The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69565

John C. Bricout, PhD¹, Holly Hollingsworth, PhD², Michael David Scheller, PhD², and David B. Gray, PhD². (1) GWB School of Social Work, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, Campus Box 1196, St. Louis, MO 63108, 314-935-7570, jbricout@gwbmail.wustl.edu, (2) Program in Occupational Therapy, Washington University, 4444 Forest Park Ave., St. Louis, MO 63108

Public perceptions and attitudes critically influence the community participation of people with disabilities, including those with mobility limitations (Cahill & Eggleston, 1995; Leney & Sercombe, 2002; Peat, 1997; Schleien, 1993). Community is an important locus of public perceptions and attitudes, because community lies at the intersection between broader social relations and personal experience (Mitchell, Zhou, Lu & Watts, 1993; Takahashi, 1997). In the absence of any extant measures, two instruments were developed and psychometrically tested to measure community member perceptions and attitudes as part of a larger multi-site research project. This larger project assessed community receptivity towards people with mobility limitations using measures of community participation, the physical and social environment, and selected community resources in several communities across the United States. Two complementary community perception scales (CPS) were developed, one targeting the general public (CPS/GP), the other targeting people with mobility limitations (CPS/ML). Items were developed using a combination of expert opinion, member-check, the research literature, and related pre-existing measures, then pilot- and field-tested. The instruments were field tested in concert with complementary measures of community participation and of the physical environment to ‘locate’ attitudes and perceptions in the context of places where people with mobility limitations participate. Results were analyzed and the instruments revised, yielding a 7-item CPS/GP (N= 61, alpha = .79) and an 8-item CPS/ML (N=24, alpha = .76). Significance of intra- and inter-community patterns of social receptivity, operationalized in terms of CPS/GP and CPS/ML scores will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Recognize how social receptivity contributes to community supports for the social participation of people with mobility limitations.
• Understand how two instruments were developed to meet the unique demands of measuring community social receptivity of people with mobility limitations.
• Learn how patterns of social receptivity within and between communities are related to participatory options and activities of people with mobility limitations.

Keywords: Disability, Assessments

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.