Perceived Environmental Barriers to Recreational, Community, and School Participation for Children and Youth With Physical Disabilities
Abstract
Law M, Petrenchik T, King G, Hurley P. Perceived environmental barriers to recreational, community, and school participation for children and youth with physical disabilities.
Objective
To comprehensively describe parent perceptions of environmental barriers to recreational, community, and school participation for children with physical disabilities.
Design
Secondary analysis of cross-sectional data gathered in the first wave of a longitudinal study of the child, family, and environmental factors affecting the recreational and leisure participation of school-age children with physical disabilities.
Setting
General community.
Participants
Parent-child pairs (N=427). Child participants included 229 boys and 198 girls with physical disabilities in 3 age cohorts (6–8, 9–11, 12–14y).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measure
Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors.
Results
Barriers to participation were encountered in school and work environments (1.54±1.88), physical and built environments (1.36±1.35), within institutional and government policies (1.24±1.71), services and assistance (1.02±1.2), and attitudes and social support (.87±1.17). Age, socioeconomic status, level of physical functioning, and behavioral difficulties were related to the impact of barriers reported in certain areas. No significant differences by the sex of the children or rural versus urban community were found.
Conclusions
Parents report environmental barriers in several areas, providing valuable information about the environmental factors that support or hinder participation while showing the complexity of these issues. Future research is required to further identify potential avenues for intervention.
aCanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
bChild and Parent Resource Institute, London, ON, Canada.
Correspondence to Mary Law, PhD, CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research at McMaster University, 1400 Main St W, Rm 408, Hamilton, ON L8S 1C7, Canada
Supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (grant no. HD38108-02).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the author(s) or upon any organization with which the author(s) is/are associated.
ABSTRACT