title: Walking groups in socioeconomically deprived communities: A qualitative study using photo elicitation.
abstract: Walking groups can benefit health but uptake is more likely amongst those who are socially well-situated and need them least. This study worked with a new walking group in a community in England with poor health and socio-economic indicators to understand non-participation and barriers to involvement. It used a qualitative approach. Participant generated photographs captured the physical and social environments in which they walked and these were used with semi-structured interviews to inductively explore walking group participation and the wider social context of walking. We found that prior to joining there were low expectations of any health benefit and walking groups were not viewed as 'proper' activity. The group format and social expectations presented a barrier to joining. Having joined participants described a developing awareness of the health benefits of walking. The shared sense of achieving health goals with others sustained the group rather than socialising, per se. We suggest that walking group participation is a complex social practice. Promoting walking groups as a social activity for this group of people may well have been counter-productive.
authors.affiliation: Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: s.hanson@uea.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanson
authors.affiliation: MRC Epidemiology Unit and UKCRC Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Box 285, Cambridge CB2 0QQ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: cg463@medschl.cam.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Cornelia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guell
authors.affiliation: Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Electronic address: a.p.jones@uea.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010781:Photography; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012931:Social Environment; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Health equity; Photo-elicitation; Public health; Social practice; Walking groups