Disability-accessible leisure programming in Kentucky
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess disability access in leisure services within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Emphasis was placed upon physical disability issues. A comparison was made between types of agencies in regard to makeup, size, location and educational level of staff. Comparisons were made between agency demographics and the existence of special populations divisions. Programming considerations included transportation, client demographics, types of recreation services offered along with budgetary and planning concerns in reference to federal regulations. Additionally, linkages between local school systems and community recreation agencies were examined. The design was a descriptive method utilizing a self-report questionnaire initially distributed to 134 municipal recreation agencies, 18 federal recreation sites, and the Kentucky Department of Parks at the state level. First, analyses of data were summarized using descriptive statistics for interpretation of responses and calculation of percentages. Second, inferential statistics were generated by non-parametric chi-square and crosstabulation chi-square tests of significance. A phi coefficient and Cramer's V coefficient were also run to assess the strength of association between variables. Survey results indicated that the majority of Kentucky's recreation agencies were in a rural setting, with the next highest concentration having a mix of both urban and rural clients. A majority of the agencies employed ten or less people, while agencies which had a special populations section accounted for about 16% of total agencies and slightly over half of the agencies allocated 2% or less of the budget to special populations programming. These special populations sections typically employed 1-2 people in that division. Even though only a small portion of agencies had a special populations section, the majority of agencies did not report being overly burdened by ADA or Section 504 regulations and reported that they did not anticipate major problems in the future. Recreation and school partnerships were shown to form a linkage between community recreation agencies and schools. Additionally, one-third of the agencies reported that they participated in Community Based Instruction Programs in cooperation with local schools.
Subject Area
Recreation|Physical education|Rehabilitation|Therapy
Recommended Citation
Roy Steven Grimes,
"Disability-accessible leisure programming in Kentucky"
(1995).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI9812071.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI9812071