Participants at Norwegian Healthy Life Centres: Who are they, why do they attend and how are they motivated? A cross-sectional study

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 774-781 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gro Beate Samdal ◽  
Eivind Meland ◽  
Geir Egil Eide ◽  
Sveinung Berntsen ◽  
Eirik Abildsnes ◽  
...  

Aims: We examine the characteristics of participants entering Norwegian Healthy Life Centres, their reasons for attending and whether socio-economic status, motivation, self-efficacy and social support relate to physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Methods: This cross-sectional study is part of a randomised controlled trial. Inclusion criteria are that participants should be ≥ 18 years old and able to take part in a physical activity group intervention. Exclusion criteria are severe mental illness and general learning disability. We analysed data using simple and multiple linear regression analyses. Results: We recruited 118 participants from eight Norwegian municipalities between June 2014 and September 2015. Of these, 77% were female, mean (standard deviation) age 48.6 (13.4) years, body mass index 34.0 (5.8) kg/m2 and mean gross family income €61,000. The proportion of participants with upper-secondary school or less as their highest level of education was 55%. The most frequent reasons given for attendance at Healthy Life Centres were being overweight, increasing physical activity, improving diet and having musculoskeletal health challenges. Participants had high levels of autonomous motivation and 79% achieved national recommendations for physical activity. Respect and appreciation in childhood, self-esteem and self-rated health were associated with self-efficacy and social support for physical activity. Conclusions: Participants were predominantly obese, physically active, female and motivated for change. A high proportion had low educational attainment and low incomes. The trial will reveal whether interventions succeed in increasing physical activity further, or in decreasing sedentary behaviour, and whether health inequalities narrow or widen across groups.

2005 ◽  
Vol 8 (7) ◽  
pp. 896-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greet Cardon ◽  
Renaat Philippaerts ◽  
Johan Lefevre ◽  
Lynn Matton ◽  
Katrien Wijndaele ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesTo evaluate gender differences for levels of physical activity, for sedentary behaviour and for psychosocial correlates in children, to evaluate whether psychosocial correlates cluster in meaningful ways and to examine whether physical activity and sedentary behaviour differ between children of clusters, differentiated by the level of perceived barriers and benefits, attitudes, social support and self-efficacy.DesignCross-sectional study using the Flemish Physical Activity Questionnaire.SettingQuestionnaires to be filled out by the children and one of their parents, contacted through the school system.SubjectsA sample of 1124 10- to 11-year-olds (579 boys and 545 girls).ResultsGirls were found to be less active than boys, with boys scoring better for social support, perceived benefits and self-efficacy compared with girls. The way of clustering differed between boys and girls. Boys were allocated to three clusters: one cluster with positive correlates towards physical activity, labelled ‘positives’; one with negative correlates, labelled ‘negatives’; and one characterised mainly by high perceived barriers, labelled ‘hindered’;. In both genders the highest levels of physical activity were found in the ‘positives’;, the lowest in the ‘negatives’;. In girls a fourth cluster was identified, characterised mainly by low perceived barriers and low social support. Physical activity levels in the girls of this cluster, labelled ‘indifferents’;, were the second highest.ConclusionsMore research is needed to further characterise these clusters. To prevent the physical activity decline during the transition from childhood to adulthood, novel interventions need to be explored that focus on children of the clusters with the most negative correlates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 548-556
Author(s):  
Jemima C. John ◽  
Shreela V. Sharma ◽  
Deanna Hoelscher ◽  
Michael D. Swartz ◽  
Chuck Huber

Introduction: Associations across self-efficacy, social support, and multiple measures of physical activity (PA) have not been thoroughly explored in hospital employees. Methods: Validated surveys assessed psychosocial factors; the IPAQ-long assessed PA, and mixed-effects analyses examined relations between psychosocial variables and PA in 920 employees from 6 Texas hospitals. Results: At P <.05, self-efficacy was significantly associated with light (β = 1.67), moderate (β = 1.63), and vigorous (β = 2.78) leisure PA; with domestic PA (β = 1.64); and with moderate commute PA (β = 0.03). At P < .05, family social-support was significantly associated with light (β = 0.94), moderate (β = 0.63), and vigorous (β = .74) leisure PA; with moderate (β = 0.46) and vigorous (β = 1.24) occupation PA; with light (β = 0.58) and moderate (β = 0.20) commute PA; and with domestic PA (β = 1.18). At P < .05, social support from friends was significantly associated with light (β = 0.74), moderate (β = 0.58), and vigorous (β = .91) leisure PA; with moderate commute (β = 0.21); and with domestic PA (β = 0.82). Conclusion: Interventions must emphasize self-efficacy–building strategies and the role of family support to meaningfully impact PA behaviors in uniquethis unique population.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e050550
Author(s):  
Gavin R McCormack ◽  
Patricia K Doyle-Baker ◽  
Jennie A Petersen ◽  
Dalia Ghoneim

ObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic changed daily routines, including physical activity, which could influence physical and mental health. In our study, we describe physical activity and sedentary behaviour patterns in relation to the pandemic and estimate associations between anxiety and physical activity and sedentary behaviour in community-dwelling adults.DesignCross-sectional study.SettingCalgary, Alberta, Canada.ParticipantsBetween April and June 2020, a random sample of 1124 adults (≥18 years) completed an online questionnaire.Primary and secondary outcomesThe online questionnaire captured current walking, moderate intensity, vigorous intensity and total physical activity and sedentary behaviour (ie, sitting and leisure-based screen time), perceived relative changes in physical activity, sedentary and social behaviours since the pandemic, perceived seriousness and anxiety related to COVID-19, and sociodemographic characteristics. Differences in sociodemographic characteristics, perceived relative change in behaviour and current physical activity and sedentary behaviour were compared between adults with low and high anxiety.ResultsOur sample (n=1047) included more females (60.3%) and fewer older adults (19.2%). Most participants (88.4%) considered COVID-19 as extremely or very serious and one-third (32.9%) felt extremely or very anxious. We found no differences (p>0.05) in current physical activity or sedentary behaviour by anxiety level. The largest perceived change in behaviours included social distancing, driving motor vehicles, use of screen-based devices, watching television and interactions with neighbours. We found anxiety-related differences (p<0.05) in perceived changes in various behaviours.ConclusionsChanges in physical activity, sedentary behaviour and social behaviour occurred soon after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared, and some of these changes differed among those with low and high anxiety.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elpiniki Laiou ◽  
Iro Rapti ◽  
Georgios Markozannes ◽  
Luisella Cianferotti ◽  
Lena Fleig ◽  
...  

Abstract There is a growing recognition that social support can potentially exert consistent or opposing effects in influencing health behaviours. The present paper presents a cross-sectional study, including 2,064 adults from Italy, Spain and Greece, who were participants in a multi-centre randomised controlled trial (C4H study), aiming to examine whether social support is correlated with adherence to a healthy Mediterranean diet and physical activity. Social support data were available for 1,572 participants. The majority of the sample reported emotional support availability (84·5 %), financial support availability (72·6 %) and having one or more close friends (78·2 %). Mediterranean diet adherence was significantly associated with emotional support (P = 0·009) and social network support (P = 0·021). No statistically significant associations were found between participant physical activity and the social support aspects studied. In conclusion, emotional and social network support may be associated with increased adherence to the Mediterranean diet. However, further research is needed to evaluate the role of social support in adherence to healthy Mediterranean diet.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judy M Bradley ◽  
Jason J Wilson ◽  
Kate Hayes ◽  
Lisa Kent ◽  
Suzanne McDonough ◽  
...  

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1607
Author(s):  
Premalatha Paulsamy ◽  
Rizwan Ashraf ◽  
Shadia Hamoud Alshahrani ◽  
Kalaiselvi Periannan ◽  
Absar Ahmed Qureshi ◽  
...  

Diabetes mellitus is a major public health issue that considerably impacts mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs worldwide. The COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc in diabetes management, too, like other spectrums of life. A descriptive, cross-sectional study was adopted to determine the effect of Social Support, Self-Care Behaviour and Self-Efficacy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) during this COVID-19 pandemic. Two hundred T2D patients who satisfied the inclusion criteria were chosen using a convenient sampling procedure. The tool consists of four sections, including socio-demographic characteristics, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), revised Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) Scale and modified Diabetes Management Self-Efficacy Scale (DMS). Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the obtained data. The mean and SD of diabetic management self-efficacy is 5.74 (1.95) and 4.37 (1.4), respectively, for patients with HbA1c < 6.5% and HbA1c ≥ 6.5%. The self-care activities of the patients who had good glycemic control were 4.31 (2.06) compared to 3.50 (1.73) who did not. The social support received by the patients was 6.13 (2.13) vs. 5.31 (1.67) among patients with glycemic control vs. no control. The results show that social support (p = 0.04), self-efficacy (p =0.01) and self-care activities (p = 0.001) were significantly related to the level of glycemic control of the T2D patients. A significant relationship was also identified between gender (p = 0.036), age (p = 0.001) and education status (p = 0.000) with HbA1c control of the participants. This study demonstrates a significant relationship between social support, self-care behaviours, self-efficacy and glycemic management in T2D patients. During this COVID-19 pandemic, interventions to enhance the self-care activities like exercise and social support to boost their self-efficacy; for better diabetes management, reducing diabetes complications or prolonging their onset are the need of the hour.


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