Exploring how the process of quality participation unfolds for volunteers in community-based exercise programs for persons with disabilities

Within community-based exercise programs (CBEPs) for persons with disabilities, research suggests that the quality participation experiences of volunteers support the quality participation experiences of members. Yet, little is known about how quality participation unfolds over time for volunteers and how to foster positive experiences for these individuals. As such, we sought to explore how volunteers’ experiences of quality participation may fluctuate over time while they are participating in a CBEP for persons with disabilities using a longitudinal, integrated methods approach. Over a five-month period, a novel combination of (a) semi-structured interviews, (b) timelines, (c) relational maps, and (d) audio diaries was used with university-aged volunteers at Revved Up, an adaptive CBEP in Kingston, Ontario. These datasets, subject to thematic analysis, illuminated meaningful understandings of how quality participation develops for volunteers by means of two overarching themes: a ‘process’ of how quality participation unfolds over time, and conditions supporting access to this ‘process’. The findings demonstrate the value of integrating of pluralistic qualitative methods and yield insights into the quality participation process to an extent that may not have been garnered through a single method or cross-sectional study. Critical reflections and insights concerning the use of integrated methods in sport, exercise, and health fields are considered. Practically speaking, CBEP providers and researchers can utilize the findings to inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of initiatives to support the quality participation of volunteers.