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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1496631
This article is part of the Research Topic Innovative Teaching and Learning in Health Education and Promotion View all 20 articles
Barriers and facilitators to participation in physical activity for students with disabilities in an integrated school setting ：a metasynthesis of qualitative research evidence
Provisionally accepted- Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Purpose: This review investigates the factors influencing the participation of students with disabilities (SWD) in physical activities (PA) within integrated school settings. Materials and Methods: A keyword search of articles published up to May 2024 identified 22 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. Thematic synthesis was used to analyze the data, resulting in a dynamic theoretical model. Results: The model encompasses 19 themes, including an individual-level "Special factor" and three phases: perspectives from school administrators (First phase), a two-way dialogue between school management and staff (Second phase), and interactions among staff, SWD, and peers (Third phase). The final phase, based on basic psychological needs theory, identifies autonomy, competence, and relatedness needs. Conclusions: The dynamic model highlights that no single factor fully explains SWD participation in PA within inclusive environments. Educators must consider physiological, behavioral, and cognitive aspects, as well as mediating factors and processes (three phases), to design tailored strategies that address SWD needs and foster a supportive environment.
Keywords: Students with disabilities 1, Physical activity 2, integrated school 3, Facilitators 4, barriers 5, systematic review 6
Received: 15 Sep 2024; Accepted: 26 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liu, Han, Li, Huang, Zhao, Qian and Sun. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Jingquan Sun, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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