A community based exploration of physical literacy in masters athletes : an older adult perspective
department or school: Health and Social Development, Faculty of (Okanagan)
department or school: Health and Exercise Sciences, School of (Okanagan)
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCO
creator: McCracken, Garry
issued: 2021-09-02T22:10:13Z
issued: 2021
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Background: Canadians are living longer and spending more years in retirement. This demographic shift has, in-part, prompted significant growth in sport participation by older adults. The purpose of this research was to explore the principles of Physical Literacy (PL) within the Masters Athlete (MA) community in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and to determine if this group of older active adults puts these principles into practice in their lives. Methods: Sport clubs in the Kelowna and surrounding area were sent email invitations to participate, with a survey link embedded. Thirty-five MAs, males and females ranging in age from 55 to over 75 years of age, completed the survey. All were invited to participate in follow-up interviews that were conducted online. Thirty-one accepted the invitation, eight were interviewed. Results: Of the 35 MAs who consented and completed an online survey of sport participation in a pre-COVID-19 scenario, more than half declared themselves to be lifelong athletes, while almost a quarter could be considered late bloomers coming to competitive sport later in life. Survey responses also showed that while most MAs were unaware of the term PL, the MAs embodied its principles in their practice of physical activity (PA) and sport to maintain a healthy lifestyle for life. The interviews of the 8 participants revealed that when presented with the PL definition, MAs felt that it had little relevance to them and they failed to see how it could be adapted to address the needs of older adults (OAs). The importance of social connection in sport was prominent in the interviews. Several commented about how sport had replaced the socialization previously found in the workplace. Conclusions: These data suggest that although MAs are unaware of the construct of PL they have intuitively engaged with its principles and seek to share their active lifestyle with other OAs; however, absent from the definition is social connectedness, an essential eleme…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/79633
note: A COMMUNITY BASED EXPLORATION OF PHYSICAL LITERACY IN MASTERS ATHLETES: AN OLDER ADULT PERSPECTIVE by Garry McCracken B.Eng., The Royal Military College of Canada, 1974 M.Pl., Queen’s University, 1987 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in THE COLLEGE OF GRADUATE STUDIES (Health and Exercise Sciences) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Okanagan) August 2021 © Garry McCracken, 2021 ii The following individuals certify that they have read and recommend to the College of Graduate Studies for acceptance, a thesis entitled: A COMMUNITY BASED EXPLORATION OF PHYSICAL LITERACY IN MASTERS ATHLETES: AN OLDER ADULT PERSPECTIVE Submitted by Garry McCracken in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science: Jennifer M. Jakobi, Ph.D., Faculty of Health and Social Development Supervisor Bradley Young, Ph.D., University of Ottawa Supervisory Committee Member Mike Chiasson, Ph.D., Faculty of Management Supervisory Committee Member Dixon Sookraj, Ph.D., Faculty of Health and Social Development University Examiner iii ABSTRACT Background: Canadians are living longer and spending more years in retirement. This demographic shift has, in-part, prompted significant growth in sport participation by older adults. The purpose of this research was to explore the principles of Physical Literacy (PL) within the Masters Athlete (MA) community in the Okanagan Valley of British Columbia and to determine if this group of older active adults puts these principles into practice in their lives. Methods: Sport clubs in the Kelowna and surrounding area were sent email invitations to participate, with a survey link embedded. Thirty-five MAs, males and females ranging in age from 55 to over 75 years of age, completed the survey. All were invited to participate in follow-up interviews that were conducted online. Thirty-one accepted the invitation, eight were interviewed. Results: Of the 35 MAs who consented and compl…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2021-09
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0401902
language: eng
degree discipline: Health and Exercise Sciences
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Jakobi, Jennifer M.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/79633