Reaching out, welcoming in: First Voice perspectives on the characteristics of welcoming recreation settings and programs

Abstract

ABSTRACT Opportunities for meaningful involvement in one’s community, such as in recreation settings, are considered integral to wellbeing. This research employed an adapted Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach to identify the characteristics of welcoming and inclusive recreation environments, from the perspectives of people living with mental health challenges. Data were collected through four focus groups and seven go-along interviews, where a researcher engaged with a research participant in a setting that the participant identified as welcoming, and then discussed the experience in an interview. While participants valued community recreation, they described encountering significant challenges and barriers in accessing community recreation settings and programs. Further, they felt that both mental-health specific and integrated recreation settings contributed to social inclusion, although in different ways. Supportive people and places, embedded opportunities for socialization, flexibility, inclusive leaders, and supports to feel prepared contributed to the sense that a recreation setting was welcoming and inclusive.