DISABILITY SPORT
Around 30 per cent of disabled people currently go to a gym
A new Lifestyle Report by English Federation of Disability Sport shows that seven in 10 disabled people are still inactive. Emma Spring and Sarah Marl outline the report’s full findings.
THE RIGHT
TO BE ACTIVE A
number of studies were conducted after the Paralympics and they all showed that the London 2012
Olympic Games played a pivotal role in raising awareness of disabled people and their interest in being more active. While this initial insight indicates
disabled people’s potential interest in opportunities, the reality is that seven in ten disabled people are currently inactive and less than half the number of disabled people take part in sport or physical activity once a week when compared with non-disabled people – 18.2 per cent vs 38.76 per cent –
with 71.4 per cent of disabled people reporting that they did not take part in any sport or physical activity in the last month (Active People 7, 2012-2013). The English Federation of Disability
Sport (EFDS) works with a number of providers across various sectors to be more inclusive, as well as to encourage disabled people to be active. Programmes like the Inclusive Fitness Initiative (IFI), disability sport events and the new Sainsbury’s Active Kids for All training, which is delivered in partnership with other agencies, support EFDS’s vision that disabled people become active for life.
DISABILITY SPORT IN NUMBERS
• Disabled people’s spending power is estimated at £80bn (Department for Work and Pensions, 2005)
• Less than half the number of dis- abled people take part in sport or physical activity once a week com- pared to non-disabled people (18.2 per cent vs 38.76 per cent) with 71.4 per cent disabled people taking part in no sport or physical activity in the last month (Active People 7)
• 7 in 10 disabled people want to do more sport or physical activity (EFDS Lifestyle Survey)
• 3 in 10 disabled people currently attend a gym (EFDS Lifestyle Survey)
• 6 in 10 disabled people are limited in taking part in sport or physi- cal activity by the lack of suitable opportunities available or the lack of awareness of things that are available (EFDS Lifestyle survey)
• 64 per cent of disabled people want to take part in sport with a mix of disabled and non-disabled people but only 51 per cent currently do due to lack of suitable opportunities (EFDS Lifestyle survey)
The low participation rates contrast
with the demand shown by disabled people for more opportunities to be active and we believe this means there’s a need to examine more fully whether providers are meeting disabled people’s expectations, fulfilling their desires and supporting their motivations to take part with the types of opportunities they offer: the facilities, the people they include, as well as the way they market the opportunities, will all play a part in the success of future delivery.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES Based on the need for more insight, EFDS embarked on a research project to better understand the needs and de- sires of disabled people. It took a novel approach, looking at their lifestyles and trying to understand what they enjoy doing with their spare time and what they find important in their lives. EFDS used the data to try and gain an understanding of the extent to which sport and physical activity play a role in disabled people’s lives. The purpose of this approach was
to create the first phase of an on-go- ing research project to encourage the sport and leisure sectors to think about things in a different way. EFDS wanted to help create sport and physical activ- ity opportunities, which reflect what disabled people enjoy doing or would
46 Read Sports Management online
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