IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v262y2020ics0277953620304603.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Communal therapeutic mobility in group walking: A meta-ethnography

Author

Listed:
  • Pollard, Tessa M.
  • Guell, Cornelia
  • Morris, Stephanie

Abstract

Increased attention to links between walking, health and wellbeing have contributed to a growth in the number of walking groups meeting on a regular basis to offer short, social walks. Walking group interventions are known to increase physical activity and to have wide-ranging health benefits, and there is evidence that drop out is generally low. The aim of this paper is to synthesise qualitative research on experiences and perceptions of group walking in order to develop a new conceptual understanding of the group walking experience. We conducted a systematic search of the literature and identified 22 such studies which we synthesised using meta-ethnography. Included studies were conducted in the UK, USA, Australia and Ireland. Most reported research was undertaken with outdoor walking groups, some of which catered specifically for people who shared a disease experience or a disability. A smaller number of studies examined indoor mall walking groups, while two looked at perceptions of non-participants of group walking as a potential activity. From the original constructs identified in the papers we derived five higher order constructs: seeking and enjoying health and fitness, attachment to walking, providing purpose and confidence, mobile companionship and a peaceful and contemplative shared respite from everyday life. We argue that participating in a walking group provides a set of experiences that together constitute a specific form of shared or communal therapeutic mobility that is not simply the accumulation of the constructs we have outlined. Rather, we suggest that an initial instrumental and disciplinary focus on health and fitness is transformed through the experience of group walking into a shared meaningful and enjoyable practice; an emergent communal therapeutic mobility, which recruits and retains large numbers of group walkers. However, this communal therapeutic mobility is not equally accessible to all.

Suggested Citation

  • Pollard, Tessa M. & Guell, Cornelia & Morris, Stephanie, 2020. "Communal therapeutic mobility in group walking: A meta-ethnography," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 262(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:262:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620304603
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113241
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953620304603
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113241?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Morris, Stephanie & Guell, Cornelia & Pollard, Tessa M., 2019. "Group walking as a “lifeline”: Understanding the place of outdoor walking groups in women's lives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Guell, C. & Panter, J. & Jones, N.R. & Ogilvie, D., 2012. "Towards a differentiated understanding of active travel behaviour: Using social theory to explore everyday commuting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(1), pages 233-239.
    3. Phoenix, Cassandra & Bell, Sarah L., 2019. "Beyond “Move More”: Feeling the Rhythms of physical activity in mid and later-life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 47-54.
    4. Ireland, Aileen V. & Finnegan-John, Jennifer & Hubbard, Gill & Scanlon, Karen & Kyle, Richard G., 2019. "Walking groups for women with breast cancer: Mobilising therapeutic assemblages of walk, talk and place," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 38-46.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Park, Hyanggi, 2022. "Can imaginary mobilities be conducive to mental health?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Morris, Stephanie & Guell, Cornelia & Pollard, Tessa M., 2019. "Group walking as a “lifeline”: Understanding the place of outdoor walking groups in women's lives," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Emily Tupper & Sarah Atkinson & Tessa M. Pollard, 2020. "Doing more with movement: constituting healthy publics in movement volunteering programmes," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    3. Denstadli, Jon Martin & Julsrud, Tom Erik & Christiansen, Petter, 2017. "Urban commuting – A threat to the work-family balance?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 87-94.
    4. Aldred, Rachel & Woodcock, James, 2015. "Reframing safety: An analysis of perceptions of cycle safety clothing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 103-112.
    5. Andrews, Gavin J. & Duff, Cameron, 2020. "‘Whole onflow’, the productive event: an articulation through health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    6. Camilleri, Rosalie & Attard, Maria & Hickman, Robin, 2022. "Understanding barriers to modal shift in Malta: A practice-theoretical perspective of everyday mobility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    7. Hei Gao & Zike Xu & Yu Chen & Yutian Lu & Jian Lin, 2022. "Walking Environment and Obesity: A Gender-Specific Association Study in Shanghai," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(4), pages 1-16, February.
    8. Hopkins, Debbie, 2016. "Can environmental awareness explain declining preference for car-based mobility amongst generation Y? A qualitative examination of learn to drive behaviours," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 149-163.
    9. Gombay, Nicole & Andrews, Gavin J., 2021. "Living with embodied vibrations: Sensory experiences following a traumatic brain injury," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    10. Gibson, Kate & Pollard, Tessa M. & Moffatt, Suzanne, 2021. "Social prescribing and classed inequality: A journey of upward health mobility?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 280(C).
    11. Phoenix, Cassandra & Bell, Sarah L., 2019. "Beyond “Move More”: Feeling the Rhythms of physical activity in mid and later-life," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 47-54.
    12. Kearns, Michelle & Ledsham, Trudy & Savan, Beth & Scott, James, 2019. "Increasing cycling for transportation through mentorship programs," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 34-45.
    13. Smit, Anri & Coetzee, Bronwynè Jo’sean & Roomaney, Rizwana & Bradshaw, Melissa & Swartz, Leslie, 2019. "Women's stories of living with breast cancer: A systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 231-245.
    14. Winata, Fikriyah & McLafferty, Sara L., 2023. "Therapeutic landscapes, networks, and health and wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study among female domestic workers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    15. Guell, Cornelia & Ogilvie, David & Green, Judith, 2023. "Changing mobility practices. Can meta-ethnography inform transferable and policy-relevant theory?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    16. Ivory, Vivienne C. & Russell, Marie & Witten, Karen & Hooper, Carolyn M. & Pearce, Jamie & Blakely, Tony, 2015. "What shape is your neighbourhood? Investigating the micro geographies of physical activity," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 313-321.
    17. Hackl, Roland & Raffler, Clemens & Friesenecker, Michael & Kramar, Hans & Kalasek, Robert & Soteropoulos, Aggelos & Wolf-Eberl, Susanne & Posch, Patrick & Tomschy, Rupert, 2019. "Promoting active mobility: Evidence-based decision-making using statistical models," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Taheri, Shima & Ghasemi Sichani, Maryam & Shabani, Amirhosein, 2021. "Evaluating the literature of therapeutic landscapes with an emphasis on the search for the dimensions of health: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    19. Katherine N. Irvine & Daniel Fisher & Melissa R. Marselle & Margaret Currie & Kathryn Colley & Sara L. Warber, 2022. "Social Isolation in Older Adults: A Qualitative Study on the Social Dimensions of Group Outdoor Health Walks," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-26, April.
    20. Hansen, Karsten Bruun & Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick, 2014. "Exploring characteristics and motives of long distance commuter cyclists," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 57-63.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:262:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620304603. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.