“With Enthusiasm and Energy throughout the Day”: Promoting a Physically Active Lifestyle in People with Intellectual Disability by Using a Participatory Approach

Abstract

People with intellectual disabilities have a comparatively low level of physical activity and are affected by associated numerous impairments and diseases. However, target group specific interventions and concepts aiming at sustainable physical activity-related behavior change in everyday life are rare and the needs and perspectives of the target group have hardly been considered so far. Therefore, a target-group oriented intervention was developed. The research and developmental process was characterized by a participatory approach, involving people with intellectual disabilities throughout the whole process. For example, the interview guideline, design of the interview situation and ways of communicating were developed in a participatory manner. Twenty-four qualitative interviews with people with intellectual disabilities were conducted to explore individual physical activity-related experiences and strategies. Individual and contextual influences on physical activity were identified. Interview results were used to conceptualize an intervention that aims at promoting physical activity in the everyday life of people with intellectual disabilities by strengthening their self-management strategies. The intervention was tested in practice and modified based on communicative validation methods. Good acceptance in the long term is also expected, as the intervention takes place in people’s living environment, is socially embedded and builds upon the needs of the target group.

The relationship between direct care providers' physical activity behaviour and perceived physical activity needs for people with intellectual disabilities

“…Therefore, direct care providers should be supported in the planning process, for example, when to implement physical activity and which type of exercise. Furthermore, direct care providers should be guided to plan physical activity opportunities with people with intellectual disabilities in a participative process addressing the needs of people with intellectual disabilities (Mauro et al 2021), especially giving them a voice to speak for their own perspective of physical activity that has to be elaborated in future studies.…”

Co-creating an intervention to promote physical activity in adolescents with intellectual disabilities: lessons learned within the Move it, Move ID!-project

“…[32,44,62]. For researchers, it would in turn lead to the development of more appropriate interventions and the acquisition of new skills [41,51]. These bene ts were also noted during the Move it, Move ID!…”

“…and are overall an extremely heterogeneous group in terms of communication capabilities [41,44,51]. It is therefore important to focus on concrete experiences, read exercises out loud, provide accessible language and illustrations and even develop communication tools in collaboration with them [51].…”

“…It is consequently key to immerse oneself in the world of this target group and look for tailored ways to promote their PA speci cally. A cocreational approach is therefore seen as promising for the development of more acceptable, contextually appropriate and potentially more effective interventions [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41]. Co-creation is de ned as collaborative public health intervention development by academics working alongside other stakeholders [32,39], in which the population of interest is one of the most important stakeholders.…”

Health Literacy of People with Intellectual Disabilities: How Meaningful Is the Social Context for a Target Group-Oriented Model of Health Literacy?

“…According to the Special Issue, social context is understood as interpersonal relationships, organizations, communities, health and educational systems, cultural contexts, and digital interaction spaces. For people with intellectual disabilities, Mauro et al (2021) considered the following: "Therefore, when promoting health literacy, focus should not only be on the users, but the social components must also be taken into account, in particular, the living environment (culture) in terms of housing, work, and leisure. It is advocated that health literacy is considered as social practice, i.e., as activities that are always embedded in specific situations and contexts and whose actual form and meaning can only be understood within these contexts" [11].…”