Maintaining Well-Being And Selfhood Through Physical Activity: Experiences Of People With Mild Alzheimer'S Disease

Objectives: To contribute to furthering the understanding of how people with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) reason about physical activity as part of everyday life, with a specific focus on the meanings attached to such activity.Method: In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 individuals with mild AD. Qualitative content analysis was used to interpret the data.Results: The analysis revealed three sub-themes reflecting interrelated perspectives on how people with mild AD reason about physical activity: (1) striving to be physically active, mirrors the concrete approaches used for handling the consequences of having AD in relation to being active; (2) perceptions of physical activity, reflect how their thoughts and beliefs regarding written and tacit norms encouraged them to remain physically active, and (3) physical activity as a means to well-being, alludes to feelings and emotions related to the performance of physical activity. Interpretation of the underlying patterns in these sub-themes revealed one overarching theme: Physical activity as a means to selfhood maintenance, which suggests that physical activity can help to shift the focus from the dementia diagnosis (i.e. ill health) to a more healthy and able self.Conclusion: The findings suggest that physical activity, apart from maintaining body functions, can be a way to sustain well-being and selfhood in mild AD. This aspect of physical activity is important to consider in research, policy and practice when addressing the needs of people with dementia.