Motivation in cardiovascular rehabilitation activities: a converging assistance research

Abstract

The difficulty carrying out physical activities for people with Coronary Arterial Disease has led us to develop this study. Its objective is to better understand the aspects which influence these people’s motivation to participate in a Leisure Corporal Practices Program. The methodological path was founded upon convergent-assistant research. Nineteen people who participated in an interdisciplinary research group concerning dyslipidemias were involved. The Program was developed in eight months, collecting data through participant observation and semi-structured interviews. The living experiences were carried out three times per week for one hour of each leisure encounter. In order to analyze the interviews and field journals, we utilized the Atlas it software. Data analysis provided for the construction of three categories: having pleasure, feeling excluded, and physical condition advances. The program provided a diversity of corporal movements, differing from the hegemony of practices in traditional programs; better comprehension and perception of the body; better interaction and integration; and greater motivation for effective participation in the Program. These results have led us to better comprehend that the utilization of differed approaches with the leisure component favors participation and continuity in carrying out physical activities.

Descriptors: Motor activity; Motivation; Coronary disease; Play therapy.