Physical activity for individuals living with a physical disability in Quebec: Issues and opportunities of access

Understanding factors influencing people with disabilities' participation in sports and cultural activities

BACKGROUND

Improving people with disabilities' participation in sports and cultural activities benefits their physical and mental health. However, only a few studies have examined the factors that influence participation systematically.

METHODS

Using the survey data gathered from 4,319 disabled people living in a district in Wuhan, China, this study explored the impacts of sports and cultural activity participation in terms of individual physiological characteristics, socioeconomic factors, and built environmental features. The sports and cultural facility supply and the walkability index of their community environment were calculated to assess built environment features. Binary logistic regression models were also used to investigate the influence of the aforementioned variables.

RESULTS

There is a significant positive correlation between sports and cultural activity participation and education (OR = 3.44, p < 0.01), employment status (OR = 2.04, p < 0.01), as well as the number of cultural facilities (OR = 1.33, p < 0.01) in the neighborhood area. No significant association was found between the inclination to participate frequently and individual psychological factors.

CONCLUSION

Regarding people with disabilities' participation in sports and cultural activities, socioeconomic and built environment factors are more influential than individual psychological ones. The findings can give ideas for identifying targeted and comprehensive interventions to promote a healthy lifestyle for people with disabilities.

Physical activity is for everyone: a call to action for education and knowledge mobilisation to optimise the continuum of services for people with mobility disabilities in Québec, Canada

Approximately 2.7 million Canadians live with mobility disabilities. There is scientific documentation describing the importance of physical activity for maintaining or increasing functional capacity, which can support mobility and enhance social participation for people with mobility disabilities. However, numerous barriers continue to restrict participation in community-based physical activity for people with mobility disabilities. It is critical to address these barriers now. A consensus activity was conducted to identify challenges and solutions to overcome the barriers to physical activity promotion among people with mobility disabilities in Quebec, Canada. Three challenges were identified: (1) better services and communication continuum between research, clinical and community organisations, (2) enhanced knowledge mobilisation between research, clinical and community settings and (3) more education for healthcare professionals and community knowledge users regarding mobility and physical activity. Research priorities should focus on developing, testing and implementing existing interventions and programmes to ensure accessible physical activity and to facilitate participation in community settings for people with mobility disabilities.

Strategies to improve access to physical activity opportunities for people with physical disabilities

Community-based physical activity opportunities have been shown to help adults with physical disabilities improve their participation in daily activities and reduce social isolation. Despite the known benefits, substantial barriers and challenges inhibit accessibility to these physical activity opportunities. To facilitate the co-construction of strategies to overcome accessibility issues pertaining to community-based physical activity opportunities. In total, 45 individuals with physical disabilities, patients at a rehabilitation hospital, staff members of disability organizations, staff of local or provincial government agencies/departments, kinesiologists, occupational therapists, graduate students, and peer mentors participated in one of four World Cafés held in their respective cities. World Café is a methodology for fostering collaborative, solution-focused conversation that aims to solve problems through collective intelligence. Participants were divided into groups of three to four people and invited to engage in evolving rounds of discussions responding to prompts about accessibility to physical activity in their communities. Transcripts were analyzed using content analysis. In total, 17 strategies were identified, addressing 5 areas: representation and visibility (e.g., prioritize hiring people with a disability), finances (e.g., reduce direct costs for participants), connection and social support (e.g., foster social networks that provide informational support), education and programming (e.g., enhance awareness of existing services and resources), and government programs and policies (e.g., enforce accessibility standards for indoor and outdoor spaces). The findings of this study provide strategies and practical applications for community programs and governments to consider for increasing access to physical activity opportunities for people with physical disabilities.

Disability Type and Constraints to Leisure-Time Physical Activity in Türkiye

BACKGROUND

Little is known about the effect of disability type on perceived physical activity (PA) constraints. Investigating the leisure-time PA constraint differences across disability groups would increase the possibility of PA participation, and reverse the physical inactivity trend for disabled populations.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose was to examine perceived PA constraint differences between individuals with 3 different disability types, which are visual, hearing, and physical disabilities.

METHODS

The study sample comprised 305 individuals with a visual disability, 203 individuals with a physical disability, and 144 individuals with hearing loss. Leisure Time PA Constraints Scale-Disabled Individuals Form, consisting of 32 items and 8 subscales, was used as for data collection. Data were analyzed with a 3 × 2 two-way multivariate analysis of variance.

RESULTS

Findings indicated a significant main effect of the disability group (Pillai V = 0.025; F16,639 = 10.132, P < .001, η2 = .112), gender (Pillai V = 0.250; F8,639 = 2.025, P < .05, η2 = .025), and interaction between the disability group and gender (Pillai V = 0.069; F161,280 = 2.847, P < .001, η2 = .034). The follow-up analyses of variance indicated significant differences in facility quality, social environment, family, willpower, time, and ability perception scores between disability groups, P < .05.

CONCLUSIONS

People with different disabilities have different perceived leisure-time PA barriers with respect to environmental, social, and psychological factors; generally, disabled females perceived more barriers to leisure-time PA. Policies and intervention protocols for disabled individuals should directly address the disability-specific need of individuals to increase leisure-time PA participation.