“I am hoping you can point me in the right direction regarding playground accessibility”: a case study of a community which lacked social policy toward playground accessibility

Olsen, Heather; Dieser, Rodney B.

doi:10.1080/04419057.2012.702456

Cited by 15 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…While such solutions may be dissimilar to the principle of inclusion, parents considered such solutions as relevant in terms of facilitating participation for children with varied impairments. The findings of this study confirm the findings from international studies (for example Burke, 2015; Olsen and Dieser, 2012; Prellwitz and Skar, 2007) that these built environments for play are frequently not designed to maximise playability and consequently do not support social inclusion.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…However, a particular barrier to the use of community parks and playgrounds has been attributed to poor design, resulting in inaccessible or unusable spaces for many families (Moore and Lynch, 2015). For example, in studies with children with disabilities, researchers have found that children are often excluded from participating in community play due to inaccessibility and unusable playground components (Olsen and Dieser, 2012; Prellwitz and Skar, 2007). Researchers in Sweden and Australia interviewed playground providers to explore the decision-making around municipal playground provision.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Advancing play participation for all: The challenge of addressing play diversity and inclusion in community parks and playgrounds

Lynch

Moore

Edwards

et al. 2019

British Journal of Occupational Therapy

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Introduction Outdoor parks and playgrounds are important sites of social inclusion in many urban communities. However, these playspaces are often inaccessible and unusable for many children with disabilities. This paper presents findings from a case study of one urban municipality in Ireland. The study aimed to understand play participation in five local playgrounds by exploring the perspectives of play providers and families with diverse abilities, through the lens of universal design. Methods Multiple qualitative methods were used, including playground audits, walk-and-talk observations, and semi-structured interviews. Four play providers, 12 children, and 10 adult users took part. Inductive analysis was conducted to understand the usability and accessibility of playgrounds from a universal design perspective. Findings These playgrounds provided high play value for younger children, but low play value for older children and those with disabilities, due to lack of accessibility or usability. While local authorities aimed to provide inclusive playgrounds, they lacked knowledge on universal design for playspaces. Conclusion Children with disabilities continue to experience exclusion in community playspaces, despite a commitment to inclusion in local authorities. Play providers need support to tailor principles of universal design to playground design. Occupational therapists are ideally situated to collaborate with local authorities on universal design for enhancing children’s play participation in community settings.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advancing play participation for all: The challenge of addressing play diversity and inclusion in community parks and playgrounds

Lynch

Moore

Edwards

et al. 2019

British Journal of Occupational Therapy

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“…The accessibility of children with disabilities has been the focus of research on playgrounds and there is a broad literature on this subject (Tamm and Prellwitz, 1999;Prellwitz and Skär, 2007;Moore and Lynch, 2015). Olsen and Dieser (2012) following the previous studies of Tamm and Prellwitz (1999), Prellwitz et al (2001) and Prellwitz and Skär (2007) found significant barriers that people with disabilities face including their access to playground spaces. Ripat and Becker (2012) study the experiences of playground use for children with disabilities and their caregivers.…”

Section: Literature Review: Accessibility To Parks and Playgroundsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Playgrounds contribute to children's health by increasing physical activity (Giles-Corti et al, 2005;Kaczynski and Henderson, 2007) and motor development and they play a main role in prevention of childhood overweight (Veugelers et al, 2008;Cosco, et al, 2015;McCarthy et al, 2017). Playgrounds are also beneficial for social interaction between children and parents of different social and ethnicity characteristics (Moore and Cosco, 2010;Bennet et al, 2012) and playgrounds are also identified as a significant factor in enabling inclusion of children with disabilities ( Olsen and Dieser, 2012;Siu et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Potential Accessibility of Playgrounds in Barcelona City

Martori

Apparicio

Séguin

2019

Appl. Spatial Analysis

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There has been an extensive tradition of geographical studies conducted to analyse the access to urban parks or green spaces. Several studies deploy approaches to measure the potential spatial accessibility and congestion of children's playgrounds in urban areas. Identifying inequalities in terms of spatial access to children's playgrounds is an important issue that could be useful for urban planners. The main objective of this paper is to measure the potential spatial accessibility and congestion of playgrounds in Barcelona City. A second objective is to analyse the factors that may explain differences between neighbourhoods in spatial access to playgrounds. Several analyses were carried out. First, two indicators of spatial potential accessibility are computed at the census tract level. Next, a mapping technique is used based on a cross tabulation of the quintiles of two indicators. A typology of census tracts can then be developed according to the various possible combinations between playground accessibility and congestion. Third, two spatial models-spatial lag and spatial error-are estimated in order to introduce socioeconomic factors into the explanation of accessibility and congestion. Finally, a multinomial logistic model is estimated to explain the typology of Barcelona census tracts based on potential playground congestion and accessibility. The results show that in Barcelona City, there are no important spatial disparities in terms of access to children's playgrounds.

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“…Playgroundsdefined in this article as constructed play areas that contain traditional play equipment (e.g., swings, slides, merry-go-rounds) on the ground as well as structures built with paths to and between elevated play equipment (8)-are omnipresent within the landscape design of these spaces and constitute a significant part of the overall play experience available to children. Unfortunately, playgrounds also represent an environment where children with disabilities experience barriers to accessing play (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16). Although playgrounds are designed to provide children with an array of opportunities to engage in different types of play, the designs are frequently informed by normative understandings of children's bodies, mobilities, and abilities that do not adequately account for the presence of childhood disability.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Scoping Review of Evidence-Informed Recommendations for Designing Inclusive Playgrounds

Brown

Ross

Leo

et al. 2021

Front. Rehabilit. Sci.

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Background: Playgrounds provide children with many sensory, motor, and socioemotional experiences that are critical to child development. Unfortunately, playgrounds also represent an environment where children with disabilities experience barriers to accessing play. Structures and materials that are prominently found in almost all playground designs (e.g., swings, slides, sand) can present as obstacles for many children with disabilities to engage in independent play.Aims: This scoping review engaged in the empirical literature to address the research question, “What are the evidence-informed recommendations for designing inclusive playgrounds to enable participation for children with disabilities?” Consideration was given not only to the physical design of playgrounds, but also the playgrounds' surrounding built and social environments.Methods: A systematic search of Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBase, ERIC and Scopus was conducted. Only peer-reviewed literature published in English between January 1990 and January 2021, with a primary focus on inclusive playground structure design related to any type of disability were included. Data extraction included the study author(s), year of publication, country of origin, purpose, disability types considered, methods, sample characteristics and key findings. Key findings were synthesized into evidence-informed recommendations, which were later collated, using inductive content analysis, into five broader thematically congruent groups.Results: Thirty-five studies were included using case study (n = 17); observational (n = 6); survey (n = 5); experimental (n = 4); and multiple study (n = 3) designs. Thirteen evidence-based recommendations and one promising practice were categorized into five broad playground elements: entry points; surfacing and paths; features to foster inclusive play; staffing/supervision; and design process.Conclusion: These recommendations build upon previous design-based best-practices that focused exclusively on the physical design of the playground. Our recommendations have implications for how future playgrounds should be designed to maximize usability and inclusiveness and the overall playground experiences for children with disabilities.

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“I am hoping you can point me in the right direction regarding playground accessibility”: a case study of a community which lacked social policy toward playground accessibility

Cited by 15 publications

References 8 publications

Advancing play participation for all: The challenge of addressing play diversity and inclusion in community parks and playgrounds

Advancing play participation for all: The challenge of addressing play diversity and inclusion in community parks and playgrounds

Spatial Potential Accessibility of Playgrounds in Barcelona City

A Scoping Review of Evidence-Informed Recommendations for Designing Inclusive Playgrounds

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