Accessibility to the public environment as perceived by teenagers with functional limitations in a south Swedish town centre

Purpose : Owing to physical inaccessibility persons with mobility restrictions and other functional limitations often face problems in public environments, leading to restrictions in activity and participation. To investigate general accessibility and perceived problems of accessibility to the public environment in a town centre, as well as visiting preferences to public facilities, among teenagers with functional limitations. Methods : An interview questionnaire specific to a south Swedish town was constructed and used with 33 Swedish teenagers with functional limitations. Results : To a varying degree, all 33 teenagers commented on accessibility problems, e.g. concerning uneven surface material outdoors, steps at entrances, heavy doors and restricted space indoors. The results also indicated that teenagers with functional limitations to a high extent want to visit the same environments as other teenagers, but that it is often impossible owing to accessibility problems. Furthermore, because of accessibility problems, many of the teenagers were dependent on personal assistance. Conclusion : Inaccessibility results in dependence, which might affect personal development negatively, and much effort are required in order to ensure activity and societal participation. Efficient priorities in public environment accessibility matters and discussions with the actors involved require valid and reliable data on local accessibility problems.

[1]  A. Boland.  Disability in America: Toward a National Agenda for Prevention , 1992 .

[2]  Agneta Ståhl,et al.  Theoretical understanding and methodological challenges in accessibility assessments, focusing the environmental component: an example from travel chains in urban public bus transport. , 2002, Disability and rehabilitation.

[3]  L McClain,et al.  Food store accessibility. , 1990, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[4]  Jan Lanke,et al.  ADL dependence in the elderly population living in the community: the influence of functional limitations and physical environmental demand , 1998 .

[5]  Agneta Ståhl,et al.  Travel Chain Enabler: Development of a pilot instrument for assessment of urban public bus transportation accessibility. , 2000 .

[6]  T. Sumsion.  Book Review: Enabling Occupation: An Occupational Therapy Perspective , 1997 .

[7]  Susanne Iwarsson,et al.  The Housing Enabler: An Objective Tool for Assessing Accessibility , 1999 .

[8]  M. Law,et al.  Environmental factors affecting the occupations of children with physical disabilities , 1999 .

[9]  Person-environment relations. , 1994, Work.

[10]  Gary Kielhofner,et al.  Conceptual Foundations of Occupational Therapy , 1992 .

[11]  S. Iwarsson,et al.  Value Dimensions, Meaning, and Complexity in Human Occupation - A Tentative Structure for Analysis , 2001 .

[12]  P. Rigby,et al.  Promoting Independence for Teens and Young Adults with Physical Disabilities , 1999, Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapie.

[13]  Roger O. Smith.  The Science of Occupational Therapy Assessment , 1992 .

[14]  H Kuhnert,et al.  Restaurant wheelchair accessibility. , 1993, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[15]  E. Pancsofar.  The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Community Centers, Beauty Parlors, General Stores, Bars, Hangouts, and How They Get You Through the Day , 1996 .

[16]  P. Kinnunen,et al.  SOCIAL OUTCOME OF HANDICAPPED CHILDREN AS ADULTS , 1991, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[17]  K. Boschen,et al.  Independent living long‐term outcome variables in spinal cord injury: a replication of DeJong , 1998, International journal of rehabilitation research. Internationale Zeitschrift fur Rehabilitationsforschung. Revue internationale de recherches de readaptation.

[18]  B A Cooper,et al.  Independent Living and the Physical Environment: Aspects that Matter to Residents , 1992, Canadian journal of occupational therapy. Revue canadienne d'ergotherapie.

[19]  S Iwarsson,et al.  Quality of life in the elderly population: an example exploring interrelationships among subjective well-being, ADL dependence, and housing accessibility. , 1997, Archives of gerontology and geriatrics.

[20]  G. Rowles.  Beyond performance: being in place as a component of occupational therapy. , 1991, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[21]  Edward Steinfeld,et al.  Enabling environments : measuring the impact of environment on disability and rehabiltation , 1999 .