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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
James H. Rimmer, PhD, Barth Riley, PhD, and Amy Rauworth, MS. Disability and Human Development, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1640 West Roosevelt Rd., Chicago, IL 60608, 312/413-9651, jrimmer@uic.edu
This study identified interest in using various types of fitness and recreation facilities and actual usage by people with disabilities. A survey was mailed to 1,000 individuals in each of 10 geographical regions in the United States. The average age of respondents was 45.8 years with average time since onset of disability of 26.9 years. Most respondents resided in urban communities (45.0%), with equal numbers of small town and suburban residents (20%). Participants rated their interest in using various types of facilities on a single-item measure ranging from 0 (“No opinion”) to 4 (“Very interested”). Participants reported moderate to high levels of interest in using fitness and recreation facilities, particularly parks (M=3.34), forests (M=3.32), beaches (M=3.31), swimming pools (M=3.24), walking/biking paths and trails (M=3.27), boat launches (M=3.04) and fitness facilities (M=3.02). However, actual usage, which was measured with a single item ranging from 0 (“Not at all”) to 4 (“Very often”), indicated that usage ratings were not as high as interest ratings: community parks (M=1.86), walking/biking paths and trails (M=1.79), parks and forests (M=1.67), swimming pools (M=1.40), beaches (M=1.35) and fitness centers (M=1.31). The findings suggest that while there is moderate to high interest in using various types of fitness and recreation facilities among persons with disabilities, actual usage of these facilities is markedly lower. Further research is required to identify the specific individual and environmental barriers to recreation and fitness facility usage among individuals with disabilities.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Access, Disability
Related Web page: www.aimfree.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.