1Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz

Disability is, without a doubt, one of the most important social aspects. It has been estimated that the number of disabled people in the European Union constitutes 10% of the whole population, which corresponds to 37 million people. After the accession of the new member states, containing Poland, the number increased to 50 million people (www.stat.gov.pl) [18, 19]. According to the data obtained by the Central Statistical Office in 2002 the greatest percentage of the disabled lives in Finland (22,9%) and Great Britain (18,8%). In Poland the percentage is 14,2% which constitutes almost 5,5 million people. It means that every seventh citizen of our country is qualified as either biologically or legally disabled [7].

An individual may be qualified as disabled if he/she faces great obstacles in their private life, family, at school, in workplace or in their free time, because of their physical, somatic or intellectual impairments. This definition has been accepted in dozens of countries, among others in the United States of America, Sweden and Denmark. The World Health Organization (WHO) introduces the following definitions of disability, taking into consideration a person’s health condition:

• Impairment - described as any loss or abnormality of physical bodily structure or function, of logic-psychic origin, physiological or anatomical origin;
• Disability - defined as any limitation or function loss deriving from impairment that prevents the performance of an activity in the time-lapse considered normal for a human being;
• Handicap - the disadvantaged condition deriving from impairment or disability limiting a person performing a role considered normal in respect of their age, sex and social and cultural factors.

The perception of the disabled people changed diametrically in the last few years, both in the social and political sphere. New conceptions of work with the disabled have emerged. These conceptions give these people an opportunity to choose motor activity they could practice in their spare time [6]. Full and productive participation of the disabled in various kinds of motor activity tends to be a stable tendency which reinforces a dignified attitude towards the disability itself and the disabled people’s health condition. All the available forms of sport or recreational activities offer the disabled a wide spectrum of opportunities which help them to defend their weaknesses and to increase their life chances [10, 16].

The realization of the minimal aims, which were the independent functioning in both private and professional life, became equal to the aims set by people with no impairments. One of these aims is the act of performing any physical activity in those places which until then were not adjusted to the disabled people’s needs. These were social, transport and architectural obstacles.

The aim of this paper was to elaborate on the conditionality of motor activity by the disabled in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region and to examine the conscious profits derived from motor activity in general through the following steps:

- to examine the frequency of motor activity taken by the disabled;

- to estimate a preferable form and motives which make the disabled choose a particular form of physical activity;

- to determine the aims set during exercises;

- to examine the subjective opinion about the condition of the sport-recreational infrastructure;

- to determine the obstacles which make the disabled resign from taking up any motor activity.

The data was obtained between February and June 2011. 1500 disabled persons from the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region participated in the research. The results of 1086 surveys were analyzed in this paper, the remaining part was rejected because of their deficiencies.

The percentage of the participants according to their age is presented in table one.

Table 1.

Division of the respondents according to their age and sex

Both men and women participated in the examination. Women, in a great number of 606, comprise 55,8% of the population examined, men - 480 people, which comprises 44,2%. The youngest respondents were at the age of 19, the eldest - 69. The biggest group is constituted by those respondents who are between 26 and 35 years old, which is 26,9% of the whole population.

A slightly bigger number of the interviewees (54,8%) comes from towns with the population over 51 thousand of dwellers, 45,2% of the respondents come from the countryside and towns with the population under 50 thousand of dwellers. Table two presents data about the place of living of the disabled respondents concerning their sex.

Table 2.

Place of living of the disabled respondents concerning their sex

According to the respondents’ impairments, the population was subdivided into four groups: people with motor impairments, people with hard of hearing or deafness, people with blindness or total blindness, people who suffer from chronic diseases.

Table 3.

Impairments in this population concerning sex

Table 4 presents data concerning the respondents’ level of education.

Table 4.

The level of respondents’ education

The greatest number of the respondents obtained secondary education - 347 people (32,0%), rarely - primary education (26,3%) and vocational education (25,8%). The smallest number of respondents were people who gained lower secondary education - 39 people (3,6%). 134 respondents graduated from university which is 12,3% of the population surveyed.

The respondents were asked to evaluate their own financial situation. Any motor activity of a person is tightly connected with their financial resources. The world financial crisis exerts a direct influence on many realms of people’s lives.

Table 5.

Evaluation of respondents’ financial situation

The biggest group is comprised of people who evaluated their financial situation as sufficient - 644 people, which is 59,3% of the population surveyed. 233 people (21,5%) described their financial status as good, and 19,2% of the respondents (209 people) are not able to satisfy even their basic needs.

The method applied in the research was the diagnostics survey, while the tool was the questionnaire form. The participation it this examination was voluntary. The questions included in the questionnaire concerned the act of taking up motor activity, its frequency and preferred forms of spending free time. The second part of this questionnaire evaluated the sport-recreational infrastructure, and the importance of motor activity in the consciousness of the disabled who live in Kujawsko-Pomorskie region. The examination was conducted in different institutions which assemble disabled people, for instance, in Warsztaty Terapii Zajęciowej (institutions which help the disabled to participate in social and professional rehabilitation), Social Care Houses, departments of the Polish Association of the Blind and the Polish Association of the Deaf, Samopomoc Houses (an institution which helps people in need to return back to their social lives), Senior Houses, rehabilitation clinics and at schools for students with special needs.

RESULTS

The act of taking up any physical activity is an indispensable part of the majority of us. It is conditioned by two big groups of factors: physical and motor, psychical and social. When it comes to the disabled, motor activity and the feeling of membership (to different kinds of associations or clubs of disabled people) can prevent the disabled from social exclusion, boost their self-esteem and appreciate those people in everyday life. It is satisfying that 63,6 % of the respondents take up motor activity every day or several times a week. However, 34,0% (368 people) of the interviewees declare that they perform physical activity occasionally or several times a month. 26 disabled people (2,4%) do not perform any physical activity in their leisure time (table 6).

Table 6.

Frequency of making physical activity by people with disabilities

The factors which make the disabled take up any form of physical activities are of different origins. While giving answer to the following question: Why do you take up physical activity?, the respondents were asked to choose maximum 3 answers from a list given (table 7).

Table 7.

The reasons for taking up physical activity by people with disabilities

While analyzing the data from the table above, it can be noticed that health is the most important reason for nearly a half of the interviewees (49,4%) to take up physical activity and the main aim is to improve their motor abilities (55,1%). One in every three respondents (30,3%) complies with doctors orders performing motor activities. Less than one third of people with disabilities spend their free time in an active way to improve their physical fitness and general condition - 294 people (27,1%) treat it as an opportunity to fill their free time - 298 people (27,4%). Not without significance is the fact that 28,0% of the respondents stay in touch with other people through motor activity. The smallest number of people is steered by trends - 26 people (2,4%) and 78 people do it because they lead healthy lifestyle - 7,2%.

The table presented below contains data concerning people or objects which helped the respondents to reach the decision about starting a motor activity. The interviewees could have chosen their motivation from a list or could have written their own proposals.

Table 8.

Inspiration taken into account when making decisions about physical activity

Table 9.

Preferred form of physical activity

More than a half of the respondents (57,0%) prefers walking as a form of spending their leisure time. This form is the most available form and does not demand any financial input. Every third respondent (28,6%) chooses trips and wandering, and one in four respondents (23,1%) chooses swimming and cycling (21,6%). Strength training, team games, and rehabilitation camps were chosen by every sixth respondent - respectively 14,9%, 14,8% and 15,1%. Aerobics and qualified tourism were chosen by a small number of respondents - 8,7% and 1,2%.

The respondents were asked to list two main aims of doing any form of physical activity which in their opinion are the most important. The data are presented in table 10.

Table 10.

Goals set during exercising

The answers given by the respondents indicate that more than half of them (55,1%) takes up physical activity to improve their physical fitness. Every third respondent wants to relieve stress through physical activity (34,3%) and fulfill their need of human companionship, which is so important for the disabled. Only every fifth respondent (22,5%) would like to improve their posture. Almost three in four respondents (70,1%) can see the effects of their effort directed to physical exercises in comparison to 12,6% of the people surveyed who do not pursue the aims they would achieve through regular training. The most often listed effects are presented in table 11.

Table 11.

Effects of taking up motor activity

As we can see, the majority of the respondents (46,7%) are in favor of their health. The smallest group of respondents (17,7%) can notice only social effects while exercising.

Three following questions presented in the questionnaire are concerned with the aspects of organizing trainings and the knowledge of institutions which organize recreation or tourism for people with different disabilities. 786 of the respondents, which is 72,4% of the population surveyed, organize free time activities on their own, 14,7% of them responds to the offers presented by travel agencies, and 12,9% of the interviewees accepts offers presented by institutions they belong to. However, it is alarming that 40,1%of the respondents do not know whether there are institutions which could help them organize their leisure time in their neighborhood. Every fourth respondent does not possess any institution which organizes tourism or recreation for people with impairments in their district. Unfortunately, 35,5% of the respondents who have such an institution at their disposal, answering the question whether they make use of it, give the answer: no (81,9%).

The fact of not making use of the institutions which serve recreation in the respondents’ neighborhood was elaborated on in the forthcoming questions of the survey. Firstly, the respondents were asked to evaluate on a five-point scale the cycling and walking routes, swimming-pools, sport clubs, gyms, cafes, parks and gardens. The results are presented in table 12. Table 13 is devoted to all the obstacles a disabled person faces entering different buildings or visiting different institutions.

Table 12.

Evaluation of tourism and recreational infrastructure

Table 13.

Elements which make it difficult for the disabled to use sport and recreational infrastructure

Parks and gardens seem to be assessed highly by the respondents. Almost 74,7% of the people surveyed assessed the infrastructure condition in those places as good or very good. Cafes, pubs and discos were not assessed significantly worse. They tend to be at a good or a very good level in the statistics by 68,6% of the respondents. Cycling routes and sports clubs find the last place in this classification. They are well-adapted for the disabled only in some respondents’ opinions, respectively (39,7% and 37,2%). It results from the data that in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region there is still a lack of swimming pools, water parks (22,6%) and gyms (14,8%).

Stairs (56,8%) and entrances to different building (43,3%) are the biggest problem the disabled people face in their everyday life while entering different institutions.

The next question of the survey was concerned with the above aspect, whether, apart from the above mentioned problems, there are any other obstacles which make it hard for the disabled to start any physical activity. The results are presented in the table below.

Table 14.

Obstacles which make it hard to start physical activity by the disabled

In spite of the fact that 80,8 % of the respondents described their financial situation as good or sufficient, it is the cost which is the biggest obstacle while taking up physical activity (43,4%). Health factors are the biggest obstacle for people who suffer from different, numerous illnesses which demand regular treatment (40,1%). Every third respondent is of the opinion that there are problems with transport (32,4%) and indicated that there are numerous lacks in sport-recreational infrastructure (31,5%). Every fourth of the respondents does not express any motivation to start physical activity (26,3%), and every fifth respondent thinks that there is a lack of information about activity forms for the disabled in their neighborhood (17,2%).

Last question was devoted to the fact whether the disabled are conscious of the meaning of motor activity (table 15).

Table 15.

Meaning of motor activity for the respondents

The research shows that 68,2% of the respondents are aware of the importance of motor activity. However, alarming is the fact that 202 people - 18,8%, gave a negative answer to this question and 13,0% does not have any opinion about this issue.

Finally, the respondents were given an opportunity to write their own remarks and suggestions. Inaccurate infrastructure, problems with transport and difficult financial situation belong to the most common opinions among the respondents which makes it difficult to take up any physical activity. All these factor cause dislike to leave their homes. Respondents would like to use different institutions, but they are not independent of strangers’ help at the same time. It is the pride which makes it hard to ask for help, what is more, a great number of respondents does not feel that they are accepted by society, which intensifies the feeling of alienation.

Nowadays, disability is no longer a factor which alienates people with different impairments or deprives them of further development. The society is becoming more and more tolerant, open and is favorably disposed towards people with different impairments who participate in different realms of our life [1]. One of them is the physical activity which stimulates all vital functions of a human being. It exerts a direct influence on the improvement of ventilator activity of the respiratory system, heart prowess. It increases the level of immunity and prevents biological effects of aging as well. What is more, it helps to increase the involvement in health condition control [5, 12].

One of the most intensive factors which influence the act of starting any physical activity in leisure time is the financial situation. Despite the fact that almost 80,8% of the respondents described their financial situation as good or sufficient, almost 43,3% listed lack of funds as the factor which makes it difficult to take up any kind of physical activity. My own results correspond with the results gained by Kaganek, whose research indicate that financial barriers are most often quoted by the respondents (77,4%) [6].

Health aspects (49,4%) and medical advice (30,3%) are two main factors which make the respondents start any motor activity. A similar situation was observed among people focused in different social organization in South Podlasie area. These people emphasized their need to fulfill a medical aim (81,9%) [13]. However, every third respondent wanted to boost their physical fitness or to improve their endurance through physical activity. Almost identical results were obtained by Dabrowski conducted in a Correction Centre for children and teenagers who suffer from partial impairment of the organ of hearing in Lublin [4, 14, 15].

Optimistic is the fact that 68,2% of the disabled are able to notice the meaning of motor activity in their life. Profits which can derive from any physical activity in their leisure time are, first and foremost, health effects and physical effects (86,0%), as well as mental effects (34,5%). The same answers are dominant among the respondents surveyed by Prokopuk and Bergier. These were respectively 68,1% and 41,3% [12, 13]. My own research and the previous mentioned research conducted in South Podlasie area revealed that such forms which do not demand any financial expenditure, for instance, walking, wandering and cycling, are most often chosen by the disabled. Walks tend to be a very popular form of spending free time among people who are more than 60 years old [2, 3, 8, 11, 16].

To make the access for physical activity among the disabled more available, it is important to excise all the obstacles which restrict the access to particular forms of recreation and sport. Apart from all the obstacles mentioned above, experts list the following barriers which a person with different disabilities meets in their everyday life and which deprive them of motor performance:

- urban, which can be noticed on streets of a town;

-connected with transport;

- lack of adequate equipment;

- architectural [9].

Particularly two last elements make it hard for people with impairments to start any form of physical activity in their free time in Kujawsko-Pomorskie region [17]. My own research confirmed this regularity. 56,8% of the respondents, listed the stairs as the biggest architectural obstacle, and 43,3% said that these are the entrances to different buildings which are the biggest problem. Respondents assessed the condition of infrastructure as poor, especially while talking about such sport facilities as gyms or sport clubs. Every third respondent is not content with the condition of cycling routes.

Motion is a natural need of every human being which decreases with age but never expires completely. The act of starting any kind of physical activity by the disabled depends not only from the kind of disability, but also on a range of other social, mental and cultural factors. This paper which examined the conditionality of motor activity by the disabled in the Kujawsko-Pomorskie region the authors delineated the following conclusions:

1) The majority of the disabled do physical exercises more than once a week which derives from their consciousness of the positive influence of motor activity on their live.

2) More than fifty percent of the respondents prefers walks as a form of spending free time, because it is accessible and does not demand any financial expenditures.

3) The main aim set during exercising is the improvement of physical fitness, stress relieve and the fulfillment of the need to spend time with other people.

4) Respondents think that parks, gardens, cafes, pubs and discos are well-adapted to the disabled people’s demands.

5) Architectural (stairs) and financial aspects are the most common obstacles which make the disabled resign from taking up any physical activity. This answer was most common among the respondents.

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Шарк-Ецкардт Мирослава
rektor@ukw.edu.pl
Университет Казимира Великого в Быдгощ
ул. Ходкевича 30, г.Быдгощ 85-064, Польша.

Куска Михалина
rektor@ukw.edu.pl
Университет Казимира Великого в Быдгощ
ул. Ходкевича 30, г.Быдгощ 85-064, Польша.

Зуковска Ханна
rektor@ukw.edu.pl
Университет Казимира Великого в Быдгощ
ул. Ходкевича 30, г.Быдгощ 85-064, Польша.

Ермаков Сергей Сидорович
sportart@gmail.com
Харьковская государственная академия физической культуры
ул. Клочковская 99, г. Харьков, 61022, Украина.

Szark-Eckardt Miroslawa
rektor@ukw.edu.pl
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
Chodkiewicza str. 30, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Kuska Michalina
rektor@ukw.edu.pl
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
Chodkiewicza str. 30, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Zukowska Hanna
rektor@ukw.edu.pl
Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz
Chodkiewicza str. 30, 85-064 Bydgoszcz, Poland.

Iermakov S.S.
sportart@gmail.com
Kharkov State Academy of Physical Culture
Klochkovskaya str. 99, Kharkov, 61022, Ukraine.