A Mile in Her Shoes”

A qualitative exploration of the perceived benefits of volunteer led running groups for homeless women

Bibliographic Data

ID12288255
AuthorsJo Dawes (0000-0003-0248-4160, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, a joint faculty between Kingston University and St George’s University of London London United Kingdom, corresponding author), Charlotte Sanders (0000-0002-6525-7646, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, a joint faculty between Kingston University and St George’s University of London London United Kingdom), Rebecca Allen (0000-0003-0044-2047, Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, a joint faculty between Kingston University and St George’s University of London London United Kingdom)
Year2019
Volume27
Issue5
Pages1232-1240
Publication date2019-04-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHealth & Social Care in the Community (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0966-0410 • E-ISSN: 1365-2524
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/hsc.12755
PMID31006933
OpenAlexW2942376612
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited18

A Mile in Her Shoes" is a volunteer-led charity which provides running groups for homeless women. The objective of this study was to explore the experiences of homeless women attending these running groups and to establish how participation in a supported running group impacted their lives. This exploratory qualitative study was carried out across two sites in London UK during February and April 2017. All regular attenders of the running groups were invited to participate in the study; subsequently, a self-selected sample of 11 women consented to being interviewed. Data were collected by female interviewers on a one-to-one basis, steered by a semi-structured topic guide. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using thematic analysis. Themes were cross-referenced by the research team and findings were supported by direct quotes. Five main themes emerged from the findings: the positive impact of the charity; homeless women's motivations and barriers to participating in running groups; the benefits of participating on physical and mental health; the importance and value of social support from the group; and the value of being provided with quality running kit. This study concludes that volunteer-led running groups are valued by homeless women by helping them take control of their health. It provides insight into their engagement in physical activity, thus potentially helping prevent injury or illness, and aiding recovery and rehabilitation. One implication of this study is that gathering homeless women's views helps to steer how community-based physical activity programmes can benefit their wellbeing. However, this small-scale study may have limited generalisability, with the topic warranting further research

Exploratory research · Medical education · Mental health · Psychiatry · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Thematic analysis · Adolescent and Pediatric Healthcare · Applied Psychology · Community Health and Development · Homelessness and Social Issues · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology · Social Psychology · Gerontology · Rehabilitation

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