Facilitadores e barreiras percebidos por pessoas com cegueira congênita para a prática de atividade física

Abstract

The physical activity is an important element for a healthy lifestyle. However, among people with visual impairments, this practice is reduced, which makes this group as being at risk for developing diseases associated with physical inactivity. This study aims to investigate facilitators and barriers perceived by persons with congenital blindness to physical activity. Two focus groups were conducted with eleven subjects with congenital blindness, six female and five male, age mean 34 years (+7 years). The results showed two broad categories: "main facilitators to physical activity" and "main barriers to physical activity". The facilitators (family, specialist Physical Education teachers, adapted materials, and recognition of the benefits) and barriers (family, unprepared Physical Education teachers, limited infrastructure in physical activity centers, feelings of exclusion in Physical Education classes, difficulty in spatial ability and motor coordination) reported by participants were complex and multifaceted, with social, environmental and personal origins. Considering the benefits of physical activity, it is essential that professionals adapt strategies for inclusion and appropriate participation of the congenitally blind, enabling them to explore different possibilities of movement and relationship to the world, which may act positively on the biological, psychological and social development.