Rethinking the Vulnerability of Groups Targeted in Health-Promoting Sports and Physical Activity Programs

Bibliographic Data

ID5937055
AuthorsSine Agergaard (0000-0003-2658-8933, Aalborg University, corresponding author), Verena Lenneis (0000-0002-3072-3790, Aalborg University)
Year2023
Volume13
Issue1
Pages6
Publication date2023-12-20
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial Sciences (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2076-0760 • E-ISSN: 2076-0760
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/socsci13010006
OpenAlexW4389991823
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited21

Vulnerability and related terms are increasingly used to describe the target groups of health-promoting programs involving sports and physical activity. Yet, such terms are often left undefined, creating an image of vulnerability that reinforces the health inequities the programs seek to counter. This article aims to reconceptualize vulnerability to help researchers and program personnel describe and support individuals and groups in vulnerable positions. To do so, we conceptualize vulnerability as a contentious phenomenon, emphasizing the spectrum between individual and community perspectives on vulnerability, along with between experts' evaluation of (health) risks and lived vulnerability. We illustrate the utility of this elaborate conceptualization of vulnerability through a single case study of a walking program organized by a health promotion unit in a so-called deprived area in Denmark. Interviewing the health professionals, it was not surprising to identify that experts' evaluations of risks are key to the program. However, employing the conceptual framework in its entirety, we also find indications of lived vulnerability and resistance towards their conditions among the program participants. We conclude that it is relevant for both researchers and program employees to consider the complete spectrum of risks and lived vulnerabilities, along with providing support not only to individuals in need but also to their communities

Computer security · Conceptualization · Health promotion · Political science · Psychological resilience · Public health · Public relations · Resistance (ecology · Vulnerability (computing · Vulnerability assessment · Computer Science · Injury Epidemiology and Prevention · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · School Health and Nursing Education · Social Psychology · Sports injuries and prevention