This decommissioned ERA site remains active temporarily to support our final migration steps to https://ualberta.scholaris.ca, ERA's new home. All new collections and items, including Spring 2025 theses, are at that site. For assistance, please contact erahelp@ualberta.ca.
- 316 views
- 455 downloads
Exploring Psychiatrists’ Perceptions of the Utility of Physical Activity and/or Exercise as Treatment for Depression
-
- Author / Creator
- Cancio, Julienne A
-
There is extensive evidence in support of physical activity and/or exercise having therapeutic benefits on the prevention and management of depression, also known as major depressive disorder (MDD). Physical activity and/or exercise prescriptions, also known as “green prescriptions,” have been growing in popularity, yet little research has been done to explore the use of these prescriptions in clinical practice. The purpose of this study was to explore psychiatrists’ perceptions of the utility of physical activity and/or exercise as a form of treatment for depression in order to understand how to maximize the curative potential of green prescriptions. Social cognitive theory was used in a comparative context to identify constructs that may have influenced psychiatrists’ perceptions.
Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis research approach, one-on-one semi-structured audio recorded interviews were conducted with eleven psychiatrists in Edmonton, AB. Using a four-step inductive analysis, five themes represented psychiatrists’ perceptions around utilizing green prescriptions: (a) “You need to treat the whole thing,” (b) “Our bodies are made to move,” (c) “We stick to medication and therapy ‘cause [sic] so far it’s the best we have,” (d) “My job is to make sure that they’re well,” and (e) “Out of all specialties, we’re the most open to new things like this.” Although most psychiatrists in this study expressed favorable attitudes regarding the therapeutic potential of green prescriptions, numerous barriers inhibited their ability to carry out these prescriptions in clinical practice. Depressive symptoms, poor education, and limited infrastructure within the mental healthcare system were the most prevalent barriers that discouraged psychiatrists from prescribing these treatments. This study shed light into the feasibility of green prescriptions and outlined suggestions on how to develop strategies to support the uptake of utilizing physical activity and/or exercise as a treatment for depression. -
- Subjects / Keywords
-
- Graduation date
- Fall 2019
-
- Type of Item
- Thesis
-
- Degree
- Master of Arts
-
- 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.