Exercise as it relates to Disease/The effect of disability on physical activity

What is the background?
It is well known that participating in regular physical activity improves health however disabled people don’t get the same opportunities as non-disabled people. In the U.S. around 20% of the population has some type of disability and those that don’t meet the recommendations stated in the physical activity guidelines have a 20-30% increased risk of all-cause mortality [4]. This paper identifies some barriers faced by disabled people that prevents them from participating in regular physical activity and solutions to these problems.

Where is the research from? [6]
The research conducted by the University of Illinois took place in the U.S. between 2001-2002 and was published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine in 2004. Collection of results were supported by a few organizations such as the National Centre on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research The authors have high credibility as each has published many papers relating to disability and physical activity while having thousands of citations between them while lead researcher James Rimmer has received multiple awards for his work.

What kind of research is this?
This was an observational study where researchers travelled to 10 cities across the U.S. to collect data from different groups of people that have occupations related to physical activity [7].

What did the research involve? [6]
The first method of gathering information was to separate participants into four focus groups. People with disabilities, Architects, Fitness professionals and City planners. They were asked to comment on the accessibility of fitness centres, swimming pools, parks, trails and give ideas on what could be done to solve the issues. The information was gathered during recorded meeting sessions to be analysed. The second method was the researches going to the different cities to have a look at the facilities, brochures and signage provided, and advertisements of the facilities.

Strength of Study:
 * Addressed issues faced by disabled people regarding physical activity participation and provided some ideas on how they can be reduced
 * Taken opinions from professionals who work in the fitness industry and people than plan towns/cities

Weakness of Study:
 * Only takes into account people who have physical disabilities and not those with intellectual disabilities
 * Only 42 disabled people were interviewed

What were the basic results?
The results show that there are many barriers that prevent disabled people from participating in physical activity. The main barriers and solutions to increase physical activity are presented in the table below [6] :

What conclusions can we take from this research?
Many barriers prevent disabled people from participating in physical activity. Most of these barriers are created by non-disabled people overlooking the needs of disabled people that give off a negative attitude towards them as they are seen as unimportant [1]. Also, there are not many studies exploring factors that affect disabled people. This shows that there is a lack of understanding towards disabled people.

Practical advice

 * Suggestions were made to develop a reliable way of measuring physical activity levels in disabled people
 * It was suggested that researches should find more specific issues within the barriers that affect participation and that an ecological model is made to gain a better understanding
 * Deeper research into factors that affect participation in physical activity can help to reshape the way people think about disabled people and increase participation

Further information/resources
Overview of Physical Activity in Australia: [https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/~/media/ResourceCentre/PublicationsandResources/Physical%20activity/Participation_in_physical_activity_Research_summary.ashx#:~:text=Other%20factors%20impacting%20on%20physical,%2D%20conscious%20(Chau%202007). Participation in physical activity ]

Barriers:

Factors affecting Children with Disabilities

Environmental factors

Organization:

Increasing physical activity among adults with disabilities