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Abstract
Objectives: To contribute to furthering the understanding of how people with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) reason about physical activity as part of everyday life, with a specific focus on the meanings attached to such activity.
Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 individuals with mild AD. Qualitative content analysis was used to interpret the data.
Results: The analysis revealed three sub-themes reflecting interrelated perspectives on how people with mild AD reason about physical activity: (1) striving to be physically active, mirrors the concrete approaches used for handling the consequences of having AD in relation to being active; (2) perceptions of physical activity, reflect how their thoughts and beliefs regarding written and tacit norms encouraged them to remain physically active, and (3) physical activity as a means to well-being, alludes to feelings and emotions related to the performance of physical activity. Interpretation of the underlying patterns in these sub-themes revealed one overarching theme: Physical activity as a means to selfhood maintenance, which suggests that physical activity can help to shift the focus from the dementia diagnosis (i.e. ill health) to a more healthy and able self.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that physical activity, apart from maintaining body functions, can be a way to sustain well-being and selfhood in mild AD. This aspect of physical activity is important to consider in research, policy and practice when addressing the needs of people with dementia.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their deepest gratitude towards the participants and their spouses, to Ulla Nergård for excellent transcription of the interviews, and to Christina Eriksson Nergård for the practical arrangements regarding transcriptions.