Firefighter- and fire department-level barriers and promoters of physical activity and fitness among volunteer firefighters: a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews [manuscript]

Details

• Alternative Title:
  J Occup Environ Med
• Personal Author:
  Shah, Nimit N. ; Wackowski, Olivia A. ; Jahnke, Sara A. ; Roy, Jason ; Hollerbach, Brittany S. ; Edwards, Derrick L. ; Caban-Martinez, Alberto J. ; Calkins, Miriam M. ; Austin, Elena ; Black, Taylor M. ; Awadalla, Josephine ; Grant, Casey C. ; Kubiel, Brian S. ; Graber, Judith M.
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  To describe volunteer firefighters’ perspectives on how firefighter- and fire department-level factors influence their physical activity and fitness.
  
  Methods:
  
  Firefighters (n = 28) were interviewed, stratified by their years of firefighting, using an interview guide. Thematic analysis and systematic coding were employed to analyze the interview transcripts.
  
  Results:
  
  Five themes were identified: (1) health and firefighting performance; (2) firefighter time and availability; (3) responsibility of the fire department to support volunteer members’ physical fitness; (4) fire training drills as a form of functional physical activity, and (5) fitness initiatives at the department. Interviewing by years of experience showed varied perspectives which converged towards similar conclusions.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Incorporating fitness discussions into department meetings and trainings, and identifying fitness advocates within the department, may contribute to overcoming barriers to physical fitness among volunteer firefighters.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Exercise Female Firefighters Humans Interviews As Topic Male Middle Aged Occupational Health Physical Fitness Qualitative Research Time Factors Volunteers

  More +
• Keywords:
  Barriers Physical Activity Physical Fitness Promoters Volunteer Fire Departments Volunteer Firefighters
• Source:
  J Occup Environ Med. 66(12):e653-e660
• DOI:
  http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/JOM.0000000000003222
• Pubmed ID:
  39234951
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11740228
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; F31 HL160196/HL/NHLBI NIH HHSUnited States/ ; P30 ES005022/ES/NIEHS NIH HHSUnited States/ ; T42 OH008422/OH/NIOSH CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  66
• Issue:
  12
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:4d208c5ec7c959756568d1746045d6b85eadc23a7d382d1986f7fe8bb2f9d388b61367d34b29a04ab02eaf1bf0b8e5f54024329e0f5928b021ff187772e7c93b
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/175923/cdc_175923_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 427.41 KB ]