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 B.

AU - Crust, Lee

PY - 2015

Y1 - 2015

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

VL - 7

SP - 13

EP - 36

JO - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

JF - Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health

SN - 2159-676X

IS - 1

ER -