Exercise motivators, barriers, habits and environment at an Indigenous community facility

ABSTRACT

Purpose/Rationale: Increasing exercise participation is key to improving Indigenous health. The cultural relevance of exercise facilities impacts participation. We examined exercise motivators, barriers, habits, and environments experienced by Indigenous community exercise facility members.

Design/Methodology/Approach: An existing Indigenous exercise questionnaire was adapted by Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers and exercise facility staff. Members were invited to complete the study questionnaire online. Data were analysed through descriptive statistics.

Findings: A total of 167 adults (45 Indigenous) completed the questionnaire. The main barriers were exercising with injury, finding time to exercise with family/caring commitments and exercising outside of the gym. The main reasons for membership were to improve health and fitness and for Indigenous participants, having a culturally appropriate facility.

Research contribution: New knowledge on exercise barriers, habits and environment experienced by Indigenous peoples.

Practical implications: Findings provide formative data to design culturally relevant exercise programs.

Originality/Value: Culturally appropriate exercise facilities are important to Indigenous peoples and may increase participation.

KEYWORDS:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
• physical activity
• surveys and questionnaires
• habits
• Australia

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Eric Lesa, Henry Button, Liz Willis, Tim Murray, John Leha and Indu Balachandran from the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence (NCIE) and Professor Adrian Bauman, Professor Maria Fiatarone Singh and Professor Ross Sanders for their assistance in the development and administration of the questionnaire.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).