Participatory photography methodology employment to increase understanding of Latinas' exercise motivators and barriers

1) Background: Most Latinas are not exercising at recommend levels and are at greater risk than other ethnic groups for being overweight and negative health consequences. The current study employed participatory photography methodology to better understand Latinas' exercise motivators and barriers. The specific aim of the presented research was to determine how participants described their motivators and barriers to exercise. 2) Methods: Participatory photography methodology was utilized with community dwelling Latinas, (n = 19), in South Florida. Data collection was through two individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews, one before photographing motives and barriers to exercise and one afterwards. Qualitative content analysis was used to establish categories and frequencies of categories from the data. 3) Results: Participants defined exercise as physical activities done for the purpose of exercising involving a set of physical and emotional effects. Exercise motivators identified were classified as either Extrinsic, the most frequent category, or Intrinsic. Exercise barriers were classified into a) competing obligations, b) personal limitations, c) environmental limitations, and d) competing diversions. Cultural aspects influencing Latinas' exercise were: a) job stress, b) changing family roles, c) fast food availability, and d) transportation. 4) Conclusion/Discussion: The relevance of this project to public health is a deeper and more complete understanding of Latinas' exercise motivators and barriers than possible through survey alone. Through future investigation of these categories, development and testing of culturally sensitive intervention strategies designed to increase exercise and improve the overall health of involved Latinas through obesity prevention can be accomplished.