Multiple perspectives on accessibility to physical activity for people with long-term mobility impairment

ABSTRACT

Background: Accessibility to physical activity in the form of sport and recreation for people with disability has been investigated primarily from the perspective of service consumers. This study aimed to increase insights into the factors that influence accessibility to sport and recreation activity for people with long-term mobility impairment from multiple perspectives. Methods: We interviewed participants with mobility impairment, service providers, and service planners and funders in five locations across New Zealand. The interviews underwent thematic analysis into four levels of the social ecological framework. Results: In total, 53 participants were interviewed. People with mobility impairment were challenged by physical and financial circumstances, social attitudes, and the built environment. Service providers experienced fiscal and organizational constraints to providing an inclusive environment. Funding and planning organizations removed planned accessibility features to save money. Conclusions: The barriers perceived by people with disabilities are sustained by financial, administrative, and attitudinal constraints. Such knowledge should allow generation of strategies to transform the barriers into facilitators.

KEYWORDS:

• Disability
• physical activity
• social ecological framework

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank all the interviewees who participated in this research. We also wish to acknowledge Jerry Shearman for his support during development of the project. Finally, we wish to thank Mandy Wilkinson, Sandra Mandic and Lisett Burrows for their comments on earlier versions of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Hilda Mulligan is a physiotherapist with a research focus on disability issues, the promotion of physical activity for persons with neurological conditions, and self-management in long-term conditions. She focuses on the context and content rehabilitation for participation in the life roles of adults and children with neurological insult and the elderly.

Motohide Miyahara studied psychology and health education in Japan, and movement therapy, public health, and kinesiology in the US. After completing PhD, he was engaged in post-doctoral research in UK and Germany, and taught in a postgraduate program in Norway. Since 1996 he has been teaching and researching in the areas of development and disability, while directing the Movement Development Clinic in New Zealand. He conducts disability research with a main focus on developmental disabilities by taking advantage of a wide range of methods, including qualitative interviews, case study research, psychological experiment, systematic review and meta-analysis.

Allison Nichols-Dunsmuir was educated in the US. She received a Fulbright Scholarship to study culture and disability in New Zealand for a medical anthropology PhD, and she has resided in New Zealand since 1989. Her qualifications include degrees in psychology, counselling, public health policy and management. She currently works for the Canterbury District Health Board's Community and Public Health Department, as a Health in All Policy Advisor. She therefore plays a strong advocacy role for an inclusive environment of access to recreation and sports facilities and the built environment.

Additional information

Funding

This project was partly funded by the Burwood Academy of Independent Living.