Increasing Physical Activity Participation

Increasing physical activity participation among persons with SCI requires systematically targeting the factors that influence participation. These factors include correlates (or predictors) of physical activity participation that can be targeted in a given intervention, as well as physical activity barriers that can be mitigated, and/or facilitators that can be emphasized, in a given intervention. In the past decade, the examination of physical activity correlates and barriers/facilitators have burgeoned, and there has been a concomitant increase in the development and evaluation of physical activity-enhancing interventions. Research exploring the translation of physical activity interventions in community and clinical settings is also garnering attention.

This section begins by reviewing the correlates of physical activity participation and barriers and facilitators to physical activity participation among persons with SCI. Next, we review the impact of interventions that aim to increase physical activity-related psychosocial variables and participation among persons with SCI.  We end this section with an overview of knowledge translation of physical activity promotion in the SCI community.