A Primary Qualitative Study Exploring Adult BAME Individuals' Experiences Regarding Physical Activity from the North-East of England During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Researchers have found that people from BAME communities have worse health outcomes from many health interventions and face health disparities. BAME individuals experience health inequities and lower health intervention results. The experiences of adult Teesside-based BAME individuals' regarding physical activity (PA) during the COVID-19 pandemic were mapped onto the capability, opportunity, and motivation model of behaviour (COM-B). Twelve adult BAME participants were interviewed using semi-structured interviews that lasted 40 to 60 minutes and captured participant perceptions of how their PA and perceptions related to living a healthy PA lifestyle during the pandemic between April and August 2022 via Microsoft Teams. Using thematic analysis, 10 themes were generated, but only three themes were discussed. These include knowledge and awareness of the PA lifestyle, participants' perceptions of the opportunities to improve the PA lifestyle choice of adult BAME, and the change in perceptions of PA due to COVID-19 lockdown. While literature has explored the COM-B model, there have been generalised findings that are not specific to adult BAME individuals' lived PA experiences. The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to understand the shift in adult BAME perceptions and experiences during the coronavirus pandemic, therefore calling for the urgent need to modify both models in order to combat the high mortality rates of adult BAME individuals related to sedentary lifestyle diseases. This indicates that there is a critical requirement for the COMB model in order to implement policies. Nevertheless, limited PA studies have used lifestyle behaviour models to enhance behavioural modification.