Paper short abstract:

The impact of sport on the quality of life of individuals with disabilities. Barriers of sports participation.

Paper long abstract:

the benefits of physical activity or sport in general are well known in reducing the health consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in the general population. However, there are still few studies on the impact of sport on the quality of life of disabled people, despite the fact that regular participation in leisure and sports activities is positively linked to improving the quality of life of disabled people. However, individuals with disabilities participate less frequently in physical activity than those without disabilities. In Italy, according to istat data (2023), 15% of people who practice sports have a disability, compared to 57.5% of the population who practice sport does not have disabilities. There are therefore many "barriers" that hinder the participation in sport, individual but especially environmental, social and cultural (accessibility, transport, prejudice, lack of skills ...).

Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the barriers to the sports participation of disabled people. They limit the expansion of people’s choices and freedoms. The reference approach is the capability approach, according to which disability is not environment independent. Different environments have different impacts on the same individual.

The aim of this study is to provide an overview of the literature focusing on the effects of sports participation on the quality of life of people with disabilities and to obtain information on environmental barriers to sports participation that hinder the full participation of people in society.