A Content Analysis of African Americans' Experience of Engaging in Exercise Intervention in a Community Setting.

Although an increasing number of African Americans 50 years of age and older practice , a mind-body exercise, to manage their health conditions, little is known about their perceptions and experiences of engaging in and learning exercise. This study aimed to explore the subjective perceptions of the health benefits, engagement, adherence, and learning of exercise in African Americans 45-85 years of age as a foundation for promoting this approach for African Americans' physical and psychological health. Fifteen African Americans were enrolled in a 1-h exercise program twice a week for 8 weeks (a total of 16 sessions) in the activity center of a local church. Participants were interviewed after the intervention to explore their perceptions of learning and practicing exercise. Interviews were conducted in person, audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using content analysis. Five themes emerged: (1) Perceived benefits of practicing , (2) helpful strategies for learning, (3) facilitators for home practice, (4) motivators for exercise adherence, and (5) recommending to others. exercise was perceived to be effective for balance, flexibility, muscle strength, sleep quality, emotion regulation, and stress management. Nearly 75% of participants reported home practice at least twice a week. Middle-age and older African Americans' responses provide insights on health benefits associated with practicing exercise, adherence, home practice, and learning, which may serve as the first step to promoting the use of exercise in this population and may be adopted to similar exercise interventions with minority older adults in the future.