The Development and Evaluation of a Participant Led Physical Activity Intervention for People with Disabilities Who Intend to Become More Active

Objective: People with disabilities are amongst the most inactive people in the community. In addition their high levels of inactivity, their sedentary time is also rising. Previous research has acknowledged that intention to change their current behaviour is a key element to promote physical activity for inactive people with disabilities. The main purpose of this study was therefore to specifically develop and evaluate a 30 week participant-led physical activity programme for inactive people who intend to become physically active. The second purpose was to explore positive and negative experiences of people with disabilities during the process of becoming physically active.

Materials and Methods: We used a convergent parallel mixed method design. We used thematic analysis to analyse data from focus groups and Friedman tests to determine differences in physical activity, sedentary time and self-efficacy at baseline, week 12 and week 30. Post hoc tests were performed using Wilcoxon tests to determine any significant short- or long-term differences in physical activity, sedentary time and self-efficacy.

Results: 15 participants completed the programme, showing significant decreases in sedentary time as well as increases in physical activity levels and self-efficacy. Results from the focus groups indicated that maintaining regular physical activity is a complex process. Elements such as action planning and coping strategies helped participants to increase and maintain their activity levels.

Discussion: This study provides strong indications to promote physical activity for inactive people with disabilities by focusing on reducing sedentary time and promoting more activity throughout the day.