Experts say the health and wellbeing of disabled people living in the UK is being “shockingly neglected” after new research revealed that 1.3 million people with complex disabilities in the UK are not active enough to be healthy.
The survey, conducted by the disability charity Sense, included 1,001 people aged 18+ with complex disabilities. In total, four in five (81%) said they do less than 150 minutes of physical activity a week, with more than a third (36 per cent) exercising for less than 30 minutes.
The NHS recommends that adults aged 19 to 64 get at least 150 minutes of physical activity a week to help maintain physical and mental health, with those doing less than 30 minutes classed as ‘inactive’.
By extrapolating the data, Sense concludes that there is likely to be more than one million people with complex needs in the UK who are struggling to meet NHS exercise targets, putting them at risk of developing long-term health conditions.
Nearly half (46%) of those surveyed said they would like to be more active, but are prevented from doing so due to societal barriers such as inaccessible venues, transportation and a lack of skilled staff to support them.
Furthermore, more than a quarter (26%) said they do not receive enough information about inclusive sporting opportunities in their local area.
Greg Whyte, Professor of Applied Sport and Exercise Science at Liverpool John Moore’s University, says ‘simple changes’ are now needed in order to improve disabled people’s access to exercise and sporting opportunities.
“The health of people with complex disabilities is being shockingly neglected. It’s indefensible that four out of five are not active enough to be healthy and the barriers stopping them, like inaccessible exercise venues or a lack of trained coaching staff, are completely unacceptable.
“What we are seeing is quite simply mass disability neglect at a time we are focused on elite disability sport. As we’re gearing up for the Paralympics, it would appear that authorities are pretending to care without a strategy to ensure that sport is truly for all.
“Simple changes, like training staff, fitting ramps or improving transport, could have a profoundly positive effect on disabled people’s physical health and resistance to illnesses like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and stroke. There are huge mental, emotional and social health benefits too, leading to improved quality of life, and by reducing pressure and costs to the NHS and social care, the whole of society will benefit,” he said.
Sense is now working to reduce barriers to sports and exercise through their new Sense Active programme. Funded by a £2.2 million grant from Sport England, the programme will support more than 5,000 people with complex disabilities to be active and train more than 1,000 coaches by the end of 2027.
By redesigning traditional sports, including badminton, tennis and football, the programme allows people with complex disabilities to meaningfully participate in them for the first time.
Alissa Ayling, Head of Sense Active, said: “Sense wants everyone to have the chance to be active in a way that’s meaningful for them and we see on a daily basis how much that can boost people’s physical and mental wellbeing.
“That so many people are getting less exercise than they need to be healthy is incredibly disappointing, but sadly not surprising. There’s a lot of work to be done to ensure being active really is for everyone.
“Disabled people experience many barriers to exercising, from inaccessible sports venues and transport to a lack of an upskilled workforce and closures of local facilities. But if there’s enough determination to break down the barriers, it will happen.”
