TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Some of these people aren’t as fit as us …’
T2 - experiencing the ageing, physically active body in cardiac rehabilitation
AU - Evans, Adam Brian
AU - Crust, Lee
PY - 2015/1/1
Y1 - 2015/1/1
N2 - There is a dearth of research on how the physically active body is experienced during rehabilitation from serious illness. The present study investigated older adults’ embodied experiences and changing perceptions of self in one cardiac rehabilitation (CR) scheme in the East of England. Fourteen interviews were completed with participants in a CR scheme. A figurational approach was utilised which emphasised the need for participants to delineate their own logic of experience from the perspective of their active body during CR. Data were thematically analysed and individual experiences were situated in wider power relationships within and beyond the exercise class. Recurring themes emerged including participants’ perceptions of lost control during illness, the centrality of embodied sensations during rehabilitation and the interdependence of their embodied experiences with those of other bodies through overt and covert monitoring of physiological, emotional and psychological responses to rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, participants negotiated a complex interweaving of identities which centred upon their changing sense of embodied ‘I’ in relation to other bodies in the rehabilitation figuration, who were conceptualised according to fluid ‘we’ and ‘them’ relationships. Self-images were socially produced and moderated by health and exercise professionals and other participants. The extent to which participants were empowered within the exercise setting was highly heterogeneous. Findings suggest that the messages participants receive about CR must reflect the heterogeneity of recovery trajectories that could be experienced.
AB - There is a dearth of research on how the physically active body is experienced during rehabilitation from serious illness. The present study investigated older adults’ embodied experiences and changing perceptions of self in one cardiac rehabilitation (CR) scheme in the East of England. Fourteen interviews were completed with participants in a CR scheme. A figurational approach was utilised which emphasised the need for participants to delineate their own logic of experience from the perspective of their active body during CR. Data were thematically analysed and individual experiences were situated in wider power relationships within and beyond the exercise class. Recurring themes emerged including participants’ perceptions of lost control during illness, the centrality of embodied sensations during rehabilitation and the interdependence of their embodied experiences with those of other bodies through overt and covert monitoring of physiological, emotional and psychological responses to rehabilitation. During rehabilitation, participants negotiated a complex interweaving of identities which centred upon their changing sense of embodied ‘I’ in relation to other bodies in the rehabilitation figuration, who were conceptualised according to fluid ‘we’ and ‘them’ relationships. Self-images were socially produced and moderated by health and exercise professionals and other participants. The extent to which participants were empowered within the exercise setting was highly heterogeneous. Findings suggest that the messages participants receive about CR must reflect the heterogeneity of recovery trajectories that could be experienced.
KW - cardiac rehabilitation
KW - embodiment
KW - exercise
KW - figurations
KW - identity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84911811917&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/2159676x.2014.908945
DO - 10.1080/2159676x.2014.908945
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:84911811917
SN - 2159-676X
VL - 7
SP - 13
EP - 36
JO - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
JF - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health
IS - 1
ER -