Social affiliation and vicarious experience: Powerful transformers of motivation for physical activity

The benefits of an active lifestyle are recognized, even among a population suffering from chronic pain. However, it can be difficult to stay motivated to be active when pain is a major part of your daily life. The Versant AKOR project involves pairing people living with chronic pain with adventurers crossing Canada north of the 60th parallel. During the six-month expedition, participants must cover together, but remotely, the same number of kilometers as the adventurers. The participants of the 2021 research project found and maintained an active lifestyle eight months after the end of the adventure. The 2nd research project, Versant AKOR 2024, will provide a better understanding of how the motivation of participants in physical activity is transformed through this intervention model aimed at establishing a breeding ground for the development of social affiliation and the vicarious experience. Drawing on the theory of self-determination (Ryan and Deci), we are interested in the types of motivation and the impact of such a project on the adoption of an active lifestyle and on the reassessment of the place occupied by pain in life some participants. Data collection will be carried out from May to October 2024. It will consist of repeated data collection, individual interviews, as well as observation of group meetings. The presentation will focus on the protocol and preliminary results, as well as the similar research project which will begin in October in Lorient in Brittany, which is the result of a collaboration between the University of Sherbrooke and the Mobile pain unit (GH South Brittany). This study will provide relevant information on the development of a new mode of intervention based on social affiliation and thus contribute to the accessibility of an active lifestyle for all.