Disabilities, Health, Free Time and Physical Activity: A Network Model for Promoting Well-Being

Promoting the practice of physical activity in people with disabilities is an important objective for public health, insofar as the benefits it produces for health and, above all, daily life capabilities are well recognized and documented worldwide, including by the World Health Organization (WHO). The physical condition of people presenting a disability is generally below that of the non-disabled population, their habits and lifestyles are more likely to be sedentary, and as such they are more subject to enter the vicious circle of hypokinesia that produces a reduction in physical and physiological functions, difficulty in exerting effort, and the loss of autonomy with consequent social isolation. Recent research shows that a limited repertoire of postural and motor skills and motor abilities negatively impact the state of health and well-being of people with disabilities, whereas the development and optimization of postural and motor skills and motor abilities and capacities improve their level of mobility and personal autonomy necessary for integration and participation in a social life, and facilitate emancipation, personal growth and social exchange. For any individual to develop and acquire new capacities and potentials and integrate into life contexts rich in significant interpersonal relations, physical activity is fundamental and unavoidable, disabled or not. It also requires interventions and the formation of networks involving multiple subjects; such interventions are necessary to encourage action and behavioural changes on the short, medium and long term.