A Qualitative Investigation on the Roles of Social Support on Physical Activity Behaviour among the Rural-Dwelling Older Women in Malaysia

Thaneswaran Marthammuthu, Farizah Mohd Hairi, Wan Yuen Choo, Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh and Noran Naqiah Hairi
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Thaneswaran Marthammuthu: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Farizah Mohd Hairi: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Wan Yuen Choo: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Nur Afiqah Mohd Salleh: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia
Noran Naqiah Hairi: Centre for Epidemiology and Evidence Based Practice, Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur 50603, Malaysia

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 18, 1-16

Abstract: Despite many health benefits of physical activities, both physically and mentally, the majority of the older women in the rural areas of Malaysia are showing a low prevalence of physical activities. Understanding the roles of social support to improve physical activities is imperative to promote active and healthy ageing among the rural-dwelling older women in Malaysia. Hence, this qualitative study adopted an inductive design using 17 in-depth interviews to understand the role of social support on physical activity behaviour among the rural community-dwelling older woman in Kuala Pilah District, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia from December 2019 to January 2020. Three categories of themes were identified in this study. Firstly, adaptive social support in terms of informational, companionship and emotional supports reported enhancing physical activity levels among older women. Secondly, the absence of help and assistance from the social network asserts independence and triggers the older women to perform the activities by themselves, thus engage in physically active lifestyles. Thirdly, lacking social support demotivate older women to be engaged in physical activities. In particular, loss of companionship support, poor acceptance or appraisal support, logistic issues to attend exercise programmes and neighbourhood safety and security issues were among the main barriers of physical activities reported by the older women. The main findings of this study shed some light on the exigency of strengthening social support from the social network to engage the older women in physical activities. The roles of social media, effective patient-doctor communication and interventions targeting the spouses and family members must be strengthened to create a supportive atmosphere to enhance physical activity levels among older women.

Keywords: older women; physical activity; qualitative; rural; social support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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