Promoting Inclusion in a Fitness Center through Non-Impaired Staff: Creating a Multi-Narrative Environment

The dominant narrative of ableism can result in persons with a physical impairment or chronic illness being othered, excluded and discriminated within fitness spaces. Fitness instructors with a physical impairment or chronic illness can challenge these disabling narratives and promote inclusion within fitness spaces, but such individuals are representative of only a small percentage of fitness instructors. Thus, it is imperative that fitness instructors without an impairment are able to promote the inclusion of persons with a physical impairment or chronic illness within these spaces. The purpose of this research was to explore how staff in a community-based fitness centre, the Lakeshore Foundation, were able to promote inclusion of persons with a physical impairment or chronic illness, despite the majority of staff being non-impaired. Utilizing narrative methodology, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 15 members of staff then subjected these data to dialogical narrative analysis (DNA). We crafted a narrative typology representing the narrative environment of Lakeshore; (i) Lakeshore is a place of empowerment, (ii) Lakeshore is a community of acceptance, and (iii) Lakeshore is a social equalizer. Staff were cognizant of the importance of providing a cultural menu for members to choose from to make sense of their experiences, promoting these narratives in an immersive fashion, being facilitators and allies of the disability community, and working together towards a common goal to ensure the needs of their members were met. Through this research, we provide practical recommendation for instructors without physical impairments seeking to promote inclusion within exercise spaces.