Junior Sportspersons Living with Physical Disabilities’ [Dis]Satisfaction Level with Selected Active Sportswear Attributes: Implications for Sustainable Apparel Design for Social Inclusion in Kenya

Abstract

AbstractPersons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) constitute 15% and 2.2% of the total world and Kenyan population respectively. Learners with disabilities and special needs have been inactively involved in sporting activities, even though participation in sports endows them with academic and psycho-social benefits. Globally, there exists a dearth of research on active sportswear for PLWDs. Consequently, in Kenya active sportswear worn by junior sportspersons living with physical disabilities (JSLWPDs) is ill-fitting, oversize, unattractive and widely limits their desired mobility. Active sportswear is identical to that for able-bodied sportspersons. This essay explores the JSLWPDs’ [dis]satisfaction level with selected active sportswear attributes through a study conducted in Masaku School for the Physically Challenged, employing mixed-method research design. The population comprised 60 JSLWPDs. Judgement sampling was adopted to select the respondents who filled semi-structured questionnaires. Focus group discussion, artefact analysis and fieldwork photography augmented data collection. Data analysis entailed quantitative and qualitative techniques. The JSLWPDs’ dissatisfaction level is significantly higher than the satisfaction level concerning selected active sportswear attributes: function/usability, fit, freedom of movement and sportswear weight. Chi-square test revealed a significant difference in the [dis]satisfaction level among the attributes. The dissatisfaction level is at par for both genders. Consequently, dissatisfaction inhibits their social inclusion and enjoyment of sports. Evidently, active sportswear fashion actors’ product development is unsustainable because they disregard the JSLWPDs’ special apparel needs. The research is envisaged to inform the co-design of JSLWPDs’ intelligent adaptive active sportswear that shall empower them academically and within the bio-psychosocial continuum for social inclusion.KeywordsActive sportswearAdaptive sportswearAttributesCompetitive sportJunior sportspersons