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Functional Mobility of Community-Dwelling Older Persons: An Ethnographic Pre-Feasibility Study
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Mobilidade funcional de idosos residentes na comunidade: Um estudo etnográfico de pré-viabilidade
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- Author / Creator
- Duarte Wisnesky, Uira
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The purpose of this pre-feasibility study was two-fold: first, to examine perceptions and experiences of mobility challenges in the urban Brazilian community-dwelling older persons; second, to examine study participants’ perceptions about a sit-to-stand activity. The method of exploration was qualitative focused ethnography. Convenience and purposive sampling were used to recruit 23 older persons living in Paquetá, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Data was collected via observant participation and semi-structured interviews. Data analysis utilized qualitative content analysis to describe and interpret the phenomena under study. Findings revealed that perceptions of urban Brazilian community-dwelling older persons with mobility are culturally transmitted and influenced by the social, physical and health environments they are part. Older persons’ experiences with mobility challenges was an integral part of sense of self and strongly related to contextual factors. Accordingly, the experience of mobility challenged older persons with the sit-to-stand activity was dependent on their mobility expectations involving many factors that worked together to influence their activity beliefs and attitudes, preferences, behaviors, and cultural perceptions; however, the most noticeable shortcomings for participants’ engagement in the sit-to-stand activity emerged as gaps in their personal and intrapersonal needs. The recommendations generated from my findings call for the design of implementation strategies of the sit-to-stand intervention that are tailored to this particular population’s needs. This study contributes new information to the field of inquiry on mobility of older persons as it focuses on the perceptions of a specific age group, and attends to the interrelationships between health conditions and contextual factors affecting the mobility of older persons.
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- Graduation date
- Fall 2019
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- Type of Item
- Thesis
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- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
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- License
- Permission is hereby granted to the University of Alberta Libraries to reproduce single copies of this thesis and to lend or sell such copies for private, scholarly or scientific research purposes only. Where the thesis is converted to, or otherwise made available in digital form, the University of Alberta will advise potential users of the thesis of these terms. The author reserves all other publication and other rights in association with the copyright in the thesis and, except as herein before provided, neither the thesis nor any substantial portion thereof may be printed or otherwise reproduced in any material form whatsoever without the author's prior written permission.