Abstract
Background: For people with disabilities, quality participation (QP) in exercise satisfies personal values and needs for autonomy, belongingness, challenge, engagement, mastery, and meaning (Tomasone et al., 2023). While QP has been linked to better subjective well-being in exercisers with disabilities, it is not known if QP experiences are related to decisions to continue exercising.
Research Question: What is the relationship between QP experiences during a 24-session exercise program, and the decision to re-enroll in a subsequent 24-session exercise program for people with disabilities?
Methods: Participants (n=15) were adults with physical disabilities enrolled in a 24-session exercise program with two sessions per week of aerobic and strength-training. After each session, participants rated the quality of their exercise experiences using the Measure of Experiential Aspects of Participation (MeEAP; Caron et al., 2019) questionnaire. Participants were classified as “re-enrollers,” or “stoppers and droppers” based on their decision to re-enroll. An independent samples t-test and an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were computed to compare MeEAP means and variability, respectively.
Results and Conclusions: There was no significant difference in mean MeEAP scores between re-enrollers (6.28±0.53) and stoppers and droppers (6.02±0.56), p=0.38, d=0.47. The ICC was greater for re-enrollers (ICC=0.57) than stoppers and droppers (ICC=0.34), indicating greater consistency in MeEAP scores across exercise sessions for re-enrollers.
Implications: Repeated and consistent quality experiences during an exercise program may influence decisions to re-enroll. Exercise programs should incorporate strategies to foster consistent quality participation experiences such as inclusive activities and individualized exercise prescriptions.
