Conducting an inventory of informal community-based resources for children with physical disabilities: enhancing access and creating professional linkages.
This article describes the process involved in conducting a sample inventory of community-based sports, recreation/leisure, and arts resources that include children with physical disabilities in Monroe County, New York. The inventory instrument, Community Resource Inventory for Children with Physical Disabilities, was designed to examine organizational or group capacity to provide activities for children with physical disabilities. The inventory was administered by phone to organizations and groups identified as meeting the definition of a community-based resource. One hundred and six CBR informants were interviewed, each reporting one or two recreational activities provided at their site. The activities included arts, sports, or leisure offerings, with a total of 127 activities identified in the sample. The results of the study support the premise that community-based resources are receptive to providing activities for children with physical disabilities and to potential collaboration with therapists. Numerous barriers exixts, however, including environmental inaccessibility, lack of personnel training, and including environmental inaccesssbility, lack of personnel training, and costs of participation. The results suggest several educational and system-based changes that may promote future collaborative efforts between therapists and community-based organizations.
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Division of Physical Therapy, Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning, University of North Carolina, USA.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002669:Child Welfare; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003625:Data Collection; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009518:New York; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000191:economics / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000592:standards; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012424:Rural Population