Zoekresultaten

Rethinking tourist wellbeing through the concept of slow adventure.

The necessity for humans inhabiting the 21st century to slow down and take time to carry out daily practices frames the discourse of this research note. We suggest reconceptualising tourist wellbeing through the concept of slow adventure, as a response to the cult of speed and as a vehicle for engaging in deep, immersive and more meaningful experiences during journeys in the outdoors. We suggest that slow adventure has the potential to improve people’s general health and wellbeing through mindful enjoyment and consumption of the outdoor experience and thus bring people back to a state of mental and physical equilibrium. In so doing, we argue that extending the concept to include discussions around the psychological and social aspects of slow adventure is needed.

Flourishing through hospitality encounters in the Great Outdoors: The female voices.

Flourishing through hospitality encounters in the Great Outdoors: The female voices.

Cultivating love through shared adventures in the outdoors

Keynote speech

What’s keeping people after stroke from walking outdoors to become physically active? A qualitative study, using an integrated biomedical and behavioral theory of functioning and disability

Background: In general people after stroke do not meet the recommendations for physical activity to conduct a healthy lifestyle. Programs to stimulate walking activity to increase physical activity are based on the available insights into barriers and facilitators to physical activity after stroke. However, these programs are not entirely successful. The purpose of this study was to comprehensively explore perceived barriers and facilitators to outdoor walking using a model of integrated biomedical and behavioral theory, the Physical Activity for people with a Disability model (PAD). Methods: Included were community dwelling respondents after stroke, classified ≥ 3 at the Functional Ambulation Categories (FAC), purposively sampled regarding the use of healthcare. The data was collected triangulating in a multi-methods approach, i.e. semi-structured, structured and focus-group interviews. A primarily deductive thematic content analysis using the PAD-model in a framework-analysis’ approach was conducted after verbatim transcription. Results: 36 respondents (FAC 3–5) participated in 16 semi-structured interviews, eight structured interviews and two focus-group interviews. The data from the interviews covered all domains of the PAD model. Intention, ability and opportunity determined outdoor walking activity. Personal factors determined the intention to walk outdoors, e.g. negative social influence, resulting from restrictive caregivers in the social environment, low self-efficacy influenced by physical environment, and also negative attitude towards physical activity. Walking ability was influenced by loss of balance and reduced walking distance and by impairments of motor control, cognition and aerobic capacity as well as fatigue. Opportunities arising from household responsibilities and lively social constructs facilitated outdoor walking. Conclusion: To stimulate outdoor walking activity, it seems important to influence the intention by addressing social influence, self-efficacy and attitude towards physical activity in the development of efficient interventions. At the same time, improvement of walking ability and creation of opportunity should be considered

Playing outdoors: What do children do, where and with whom?

There is an increasing interest in outdoor play, both in research and in policy. However, in (re)designing, planning and managing the public space, there is still limited attention for children’s actual playing behavior. A lot of urban planning decisions are based on adults’ perceptions of children’s playing behavior and focus on formal play spaces, rather than on their actual behavior and on other, more informal, play places children might also use. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore where children play outdoors, with whom and what kind of activities they are performing there. Between February 2022 and March 2023 1,127 – mainly primary school - children were systematically observed after school in three post-war residential districts in three cities in The Netherlands. The majority of the children were between 5-8 years old (50%). Above the age of 8 years, substantially more boys (70%) than girls (30%) were playing outdoors. Most of the children (79%) were playing with other children, 8% were playing alone. The playground was the most popular play space (36% of the observed children were playing there), followed by public sports fields (14%) and sidewalks (13%). With respect to the type of activities, relaxing (21%) was the most common activity, followed by ball sports (14%), climbing or hanging (11%), swinging (10%), and riding on wheels (9%). This study showed differences in play behavior by gender, age, district and play space and stress the need for a broader definition of play, and for focusing on formal as well as informal play spaces.