Identifying Goals and Values as Sources of Motivation for Physical Activity among African American Men

Few studies have identified factors that may help improve physical activity among African American men. One of the biggest challenges in increasing physical activity is helping African American men overcome environmental and social factors that constrain their opportunities to be healthy and motivate them to engage in physical activity. Another challenge is helping men prioritize health and healthy behavior while simultaneously achieving success in key roles such as a good spouse/ partner, provider, father, etc.  Men on the Move-Nashville was a pilot physical activity intervention that enrolled forty African American men ages 30-70 (mean age = 47.2). Using Motivational Interviewing principles, we created worksheets to help men identify personally-relevant goals and values, and connected these to their motivation to be more physically active and healthier overall. From a list of goals and values, 23 were identified by the men as important. The most frequently selected of these were: being healthy, a good Christian, a good spouse/partner, spiritual, disciplined, energetic, and family-centered.  Through a thematic analysis, we found that men identified that being as healthy as possible could help them be more successful in all areas of life, have an overall better quality of life, increase their energy level and have a better family life. These findings describe a strategy to help middle-aged and older African American men identify key sources of motivation for health behavior change.  Future studies should incorporate these goals and values to potentially increase the effectiveness of interventions for middle-aged and older African American men.