Barriers and facilitators of physical activity and exercise among the parents of children with intellectual disability

Abstract

The present study was aimed at exploring the barriers and facilitators of physical activity and exercise among the parents of children with intellectual disabilities. A qualitative study related to barriers and facilitators was conducted on 42 parents of children with intellectual disabilities through an open-ended questionnaire. Content analysis was performed by the KJ method (Kawakita, 1970), i.e., the barriers and facilitators of physical activity and exercise, by eight members. Consequently, 58 responses as barriers and 46 responses as facilitators were reported. Through the KJ method, nine items were categorized as barriers, and 10 as facilitators. In specific terms, the following items were categorized as barriers: “Too busy,” “Bad physical condition,” “To have to care for one's family,” “Not enough psychological status,” “Bad weather,” “Insufficient information,” “Not economically viable,” “Nowhere to exercise and conduct physical activity,” and “Nobody to do it with.” The following items were categorized as facilitators: “To have people to do it with,” “A good environment and weather,” “Time,” “To enhance one's athletic performance,” “To be fun,” “To have a goal,” “To feel good,” “Not to have care-giving obligations,” and “To have already paid for membership fees.” The results of our study show that the parents of children with intellectual disability should utilize their family members not as a barrier but as a facilitator. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data to support parents' physical activity and exercise behavior.