Physical activity interventions and assessing people with intellectual disabilities

Abstract

Section A
This narrative review focuses on exploring what factors are important for successful physical activity
interventions for people with intellectual disabilities with the aim to improve their physical and
mental health. The analysis of eleven papers suggests that social cognitive theory-based interventions
which combine personal, contextual and behavioural elements over a sustained period of time may
be important factors for successful physical activity interventions for people with mild-to-severe
intellectual disabilities.

Section B
This section aimed to explore a more holistic conceptualisation of people with intellectual disabilities
as an alternative to an IQ-centric approach, to include physical health, which is usually compromised
in PWID. Starting from a previous pilot study which developed an International Classification of
Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)-based questionnaire, this project developed the
questionnaire further and tested its psychometric properties. The project suggests that the
questionnaire has good discriminatory abilities and meets all the psychometric standards tested,
except for internal consistency, which required more data for a statistically robust analysis. The
questionnaire has the potential to be used to facilitate classification in ID sport as well as the clinical
sector, supporting clinicians with a tool that can aid a more holistic understanding of clients with ID.

Date of Award	2021
Original language	English