The Importance of Leisure in the Lives of Persons With Congenital Physical Disabilities

Abstract

Although occupational therapists emphasize a balance among the three occupational areas of self-care, productivity, and leisure in people's lives, leisure often is focused on less than the other areas in both the research literature and clinical practice. Very little research has been conducted on the benefits of leisure activities in adults with congenital disabilities. The information contained in this article is a secondary analysis of the interview protocols of nine adults (30-50 years of age) with either cerebral palsy or spina bifida. The primary purpose of the interview was to determine protective processes surrounding turning points in the lives of persons with disabilities. This secondary analysis allowed us to determine the benefits and meaning of leisure for this population. Consistent with literature that focused on either persons without disabilities or persons with acquired disabilities, the participants in the present study reported that involvement in leisure activity provides mental and physical health benefits, enjoyment, opportunity to develop a self-concept and increase self-esteem, and opportunities to build and enhance social relationships. All these benefits enable people to find meaning in life through doing, belonging, and understanding self in the context of their worlds.

How people with rheumatoid arthritis perceive leisure activities: a qualitative study

“…Activity limitations may result from inaccessible facilities, lack of transportation (Norling, 1995;Specht et al, 2002), an absence of support, or negative attitudes from others (Wade, 1985;Law et al, 2001). The objective of the study was to explore how people with RA perceive leisure activities.…”

Initial Development of the Health Promoting Activities Scale to Measure the Leisure Participation of Mothers of Children With Disabilities

“…Coster (2006) emphasized the need for occupationbased outcome tools that explore the relationships between what people do and how they report their health and changes in this relationship over time; such tools would contribute to the theoretical foundations of the profession. Clients have reported that participation in leisure is a high priority compared with many other daily occupations (Specht et al, 2002).…”

“…Previous research in occupational therapy has described how leisure occupations maintain health, rejuvenate the spirit, build skills and talents, and ultimately are personally validating, meaningful, enjoyable, and rewarding (Passmore, 2003;Passmore & French, 2003;Sandqvist, Akesson, & Eklund, 2005;Specht, King, Brown, & Foris, 2002). Leisure occupations are selfselected and thus meaningful, enjoyable, and important to the person participating.…”

Lessons learned towards a best practices model of virtual reality intervention for individuals with intellectual and developmental disability

“…A review of the literature on leisure activities for people with disabilities highlights the need for increased exposure to augmented leisure opportunities and documents the positive correlation between life satisfaction, self-esteem, companionship, enjoyment and relaxation and leisure satisfaction [3]. The pervasive lack of opportunities for a wide choice of independent leisure activities may contribute to the development of dependent behavioral patterns, learned helplessness and depression [3][4][5][6]. Previous studies reveal that provision of additional leisure opportunities as well as participation in leisure activities contributes to an improvement in self-confidence and self-concept amongst individuals with cognitive limitations, an improvement in social and motor skills, increased communication abilities, greater physical fitness and weight reductions [7][8][9].…”

“…A review of the literature on leisure activities for people with disabilities highlights the need for increased exposure to augmented leisure opportunities and documents the positive correlation between life satisfaction, self-esteem, companionship, enjoyment and relaxation and leisure satisfaction [3]. The pervasive lack of opportunities for a wide choice of independent leisure activities may contribute to the development of dependent behavioral patterns, learned helplessness and depression [3][4][5][6].…”