Table 4.
Description, frequency, and percentage of participants’ views of the intervention.
| Content | Description | Examples (Quotes) | N | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Positive aspects | ||||
| Sleep quality improvement | Participants feel that were sleeping better and falling asleep more quickly. |
“It helps me sleep better at night” “I can fall asleep more quickly than before” |
7 | 18.42 |
| Mood improvement | Participants felt relaxed, calm, and improvement of positive mood; walking interventions reduce negative emotion, stress, pressure, and anxiety. |
“The walking was very helpful in terms of relieving me from the pressure of essay writing” “This is a good way to release stress especially during the pandemic period” |
25 | 65.79 |
| Mindfulness cultivation | Mindful walking helped participants be more concentrated/focused to observe inner mind and outdoor environment. |
“Feel more mindful and relaxed…than before” “I started to look at the flowers on the road and the expressions of people coming and going” “These walking sessions help me relax my mind and pay more attention to my emotions and feelings” |
11 | 28.95 |
| Healthy lifestyle | Participants’ life became more regular than before – regular bedtime and walking exercise; it is motivated to go outside and keep regular exercise. |
“I can force myself to go outside and feel fresh air” “It really helps me to sleep early and get up early” “It helps me take daily exercise somehow” |
15 | 39.47 |
| Being active | Being more active in mentally and physically |
“After that I feel more active than before” “Walking outside helps lift up my spirit” |
4 | 10.53 |
| Outdoor environment | Stay outdoors for fresh air and nice weather; close to nature. | “I can breathe the fresh air and feel closer to nature” | 6 | 15.79 |
| Negative Aspects | ||||
| Walking environment | A little bit far, crowded, busy and noisy sometimes. |
“Walking environment are crowded and noisy sometimes” |
4 | 10.53 |
| Time/Energy-consuming | Walking interventions were sometimes time-consuming and lead to feeling of tiredness. |
“I always feel tired at night, because I spent time walking about 30mins…” |
5 | 13.16 |
| Non-improvement of sleep | A few of participants felt walking interventions did not improve their sleep quality. | “I think it only worked a little to help sleep at night” | 2 | 5.3 |