title: Maintaining well-being and selfhood through physical activity: experiences of people with mild Alzheimer's disease.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To contribute to furthering the understanding of how people with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) reason about physical activity as part of everyday life, with a specific focus on the meanings attached to such activity.
  
  
  METHODS
  In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 individuals with mild AD. Qualitative content analysis was used to interpret the data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis revealed three sub-themes reflecting interrelated perspectives on how people with mild AD reason about physical activity: (1) striving to be physically active, mirrors the concrete approaches used for handling the consequences of having AD in relation to being active; (2) perceptions of physical activity, reflect how their thoughts and beliefs regarding written and tacit norms encouraged them to remain physically active, and (3) physical activity as a means to well-being, alludes to feelings and emotions related to the performance of physical activity. Interpretation of the underlying patterns in these sub-themes revealed one overarching theme: Physical activity as a means to selfhood maintenance, which suggests that physical activity can help to shift the focus from the dementia diagnosis (i.e. ill health) to a more healthy and able self.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that physical activity, apart from maintaining body functions, can be a way to sustain well-being and selfhood in mild AD. This aspect of physical activity is important to consider in research, policy and practice when addressing the needs of people with dementia.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics , Uppsala University , Uppsala , Sweden.
authors.forename: Ylva
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cedervall
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: Anna Cristina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Åberg
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012649:Self Concept
keywords: dementia; interview; outdoor; qualitative; walking