Table 4.
Physical and Psychological Benefits and Enablers of Exercise With Illustrative Comments Expressed by Focus Group (N = 7) Participants, by Exercise Level
| Theme Identified | Exercisers (n = 2) | Insufficiently Active Individuals (n = 3) | Nonexercisers (n = 2) | |||||
|
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of Groups | Illustrative Comment | No. of Groups | Illustrative Comment | No. of Groups | Illustrative Comment | |||
| Physical benefits and enablers | ||||||||
| Symptom management | ||||||||
| Reduced pain | 2 | ". . . And mine was sheer pain. It was like once I learned that if I did something that stopped the pain a little bit. . . . Once I learned that I could do something that made a difference, it was like, well, let's do it." | 3 | "I didn't have near as much pain when I exercised. It's the pain I can't take." | 2 | "Knowing that those bad repercussions are not going to be there when you get through. Sure, let's go run a race." | ||
| Reduced stiffness | 2 | "Well you start to loosen up a little bit. The stiffness seems to dissipate, you know, after, you know, moving, being mobile when I'm dancing or walking or whatever. I can tell a difference." | 3 | "To me what helps me most is exercise. I try to exercise three times a week, and I find that when I don't do it, I'm really stiff and painful. So, exercise and just actually moving around keeps me good." | 1 | "Because I agree that exercise does help arthritis because if you don't, you stiffen up." | ||
| Mobility | 1 | "Well, I am sure I would be an invalid if I had not continued this exercise through all this time. I mean I may miss a time here or there or whatever, but I go right back." | 3 | "I'm sure everybody has heard the statement 'use it or lose it.' There are a lot of people that have testified to that. And I find that the more I move around, even though there is pain, it pays off in the long run." | 1 | "I'm [name] and possibly more mobility." | ||
| Psychological benefits and enablers | ||||||||
| Feeling better | 2 | "I do it because I need to and I'm happy after. I feel good after. I just don't want to do it." | 3 | "I think exercise really lifts me up a bit. You know, it makes me feel better if I am not already hurting. | 2 | "I look forward to getting with the group. It was fun and I did get to feeling better. Now, how can I get back to it?" | ||
| Making exercise a priority | 2 | "I make the time. It's just helped me so much that I make time." | 1 | "One of the things that I've learned to get around some of the barriers [to exercise]. . . . I've learned that I've got to take care of me first, you know. In spite of everything else that is going on, I've got to take care of me." | 0 | ----- | ||
| Self-motivation | 2 | "I am a self-starter. It's nice that my family and my friends support me, but I think I would do it whether they did or not." | 1 | "My family tells me you need to exercise, go exercise, and they really pushed me to exercise. And that's not really why I do it. I do it for myself." | 0 | ----- | ||