Perception Of Environmental Barriers Research Articles

Environment Mediates the Relationship Between Preschoolers Functioning and Involvement in Out-of-School Activities.

This study aims to understand the associations between child functioning and environmental barriers and the involvement of preschool children, with and without disabilities, in out-of-school activities, namely, home and community activities. Particularly, we aimed to investigate if environmental barriers mediate the relationship between child functioning and their involvement in these activities. Parents of 116 preschool-aged children (42 children with disabilities) reported on children's involvement and environmental factors at home and in the community. Preschool teachers assessed child functioning. Multiple linear regressions and mediation analysis were performed. Results indicated significant associations between child functioning, perceived environmental barriers, and involvement at home and in the community. A significant indirect association of child functioning on involvement through the perception of environmental barriers was found in both contexts. Findings support the biopsychosocial model of participation and a focus on environmental features by practitioners designing and implementing intervention strategies.

Environmental Barriers as a Determining Factor of Physical Activity

Physical activity (PA) has been shown to be an important variable in achieving a good quality of life. The objective of this study was to determine adolescents’ perceptions of environmental barriers to PA based on age, gender, geographic location, body mass index (BMI), PA index, and whether they engage in sports or not. The sample was made up of 849 adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old. The PA Questionnaire for Adolescents (PAQ-A) and three questions on environmental barriers were used. Among the results, we should point out that adolescents hardly perceive any environmental barriers. There are no differences in the perception of barriers neither in terms of gender nor BMI. As adolescents get older, they consider that there are few recreational spaces, that the distance is not adequate, and that there is no accessibility to them or they do not encourage walking. The adolescents who perceive the greatest barriers are those who live in settlements of 10,000–50,000 inhabitants, especially those more linked to the neighborhood and to the accessibility and availability of spaces. It seems especially important to establish health policies in order to neutralize the barriers related to the accessibility and availability of spaces and the neighborhood-related barriers.

Factors associated with environmental barriers of people with disabilities in Mexico.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE:To examine the associations between sociodemographic, health and disability-related factors and the perception of environmental barriers outside the home environment by individuals with permanent disabilities in Mexico.METHODS:In this cross-sectional, population-based study, we used data from the 2010 National Survey of Perceptions of Disability in the Mexican Population of 2,041 participants older than 18 with permanent disability. The perceptions of barriers take into consideration the challenges of getting around and using transportation outside the home environment. The covariates consisted of sociodemographic, health-related and disability-related factors. Multivariate logistic regression was used.RESULTS:The perception of environmental barriers outside the home environment was associated with being a woman, living in an urban area, speaking an indigenous language, experiencing emotional symptoms, having walking/movement, visual or self-care disabilities, having severe/extreme disability, having disability caused by illness, using physical devices, and receiving assistance and care in the home environment.CONCLUSIONS:This information is valuable for the design of public policies and programs that promote the participation of individuals with permanent disabilities, a high-priority issue in low- and middle-income countries.

Examining the relationships between environmental barriers and leisure in community-dwelling individuals living with stroke

Objective: To characterize environmental barriers to leisure participation among individuals living with stroke; examine relationships between environmental barriers and leisure interest and satisfaction; and investigate participant factors associated with the perception of environmental barriers. Design: Survey. Setting: Community. Participants: Convenience sample of 51 community-dwelling adults less than six months post stroke. Interventions: Not applicable. Main outcome measure(s): Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors-Short Form. Results: Physical and structural environmental barriers were reported as the most frequent and large barrier to leisure participation (n = 26 (51%) rated as “monthly or more,” n = 12 (24%) rated as “big problem”). While attitude and support and policy barriers were not as commonly encountered, participants labeled these as “big problem(s)” (attitude and support n = 6 (12%), policy n = 7 (14%)). The presence of depressive symptoms was associated with the frequency in which attitudinal and support (rho = 0.50, P < 0.001), physical and structural (rho = 0.46, P < 0.001), and service and assistance (rho = 0.28, P = 0.04) barriers were reported, as well as magnitude of attitude and support barriers (rho = 0.48, P < 0.001). In multivariable regression analysis, depressive symptoms and walking capacity explained 21% of the variance of the frequency of attitude and support barriers (P = 0.004), where depressive symptoms was an independent correlate (P = 0.004). No other factors were associated with environmental barriers to leisure participation. Conclusion: Individuals with stroke report frequent and large physical and structural environmental barriers to leisure participation, which may be associated with the presence of depressive symptoms.

Relationship of Fitness and Wheelchair Mobility With Encounters, Avoidances, and Perception of Environmental Barriers Among Manual Wheelchair Users With Spinal Cord Injury

ObjectiveTo assess (1) if fitness and mobility are related to behavior and perception of physical barriers and (2) if behavior and physical barrier perception are related. DesignCross-sectional case series. SettingAcademic Medical Laboratory. ParticipantsManual wheelchair users (N=50) with chronic spinal cord injury (62% paraplegia). InterventionNone. Main Outcome MeasuresParticipants completed the following assessments: (1) fitness: graded exercise test (aerobic) and Wingate (anaerobic); (2) mobility: 6-minute push test and 30-second sprint test; (3) physical barrier behavior: Encounters of Environmental Features in the Environmental Aspects of Mobility Questionnaire (EAMQ); (4) physical barrier perception: Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factor (CHIEF) Environmental Barriers domain. ResultsIndividuals with paraplegia had higher fitness, mobility, and environmental barrier encounter rates and lower avoidance per encounter rates vs tetraplegia (all P≤.05). For individuals with tetraplegia only, as mobility and fitness increased, frequencies of (1) encounters increased; (2) avoidances per encounter decreased, in multiple EAMQ domains (all P≤.05). Perception of barriers did not differ between lesion levels (P=.79). Mobility and fitness were not related to environmental barriers perception in both groups (all P>.17). ConclusionsFitness and mobility are associated with barrier behaviors (ie, encounters and avoidances) among individuals with tetraplegia, but not paraplegia. Despite a greater barrier avoidance rate, persons with tetraplegia do not perceive more physical barriers than persons with paraplegia. Surprisingly, fitness and mobility were not related to perception of barriers in either group. More research is required on if barrier perception, behavior, or both influence participation, to enable rehabilitation programs to tailor interventions to enhance participation.

The role of environment in explaining frequency of participation of pre-school children in home and community activities

Objectives: The main goal of the present study was to promote an understanding of the role of environment in explaining frequency of participation of pre-school children in home and community activities.Method: Parents of 116 children from completed an adapted version of the Young Children’s Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM). Pre-school teachers assessed child functioning.Results: Maternal education was significantly related to the child’s frequency of participation in home and community activities. Child functioning had an indirect effect on frequency of participation in home activities through perceived environmental barriers by parents. In the community setting, child functioning was a predictor of the parents’ perception of environmental barriers and there was no evidence of a mediating effect of perceived environmental barriers.Conclusion: These findings highlight the importance of modifying specific environmental factors to promote child participation and functioning.

Perceptions of environmental barriers to creativity: A study of university student-athletes

Among the many attributes of human performance, few have had as much impact on the lives of individuals as creativity, which has been recognised as the basis for innovation and has many benefits which include improving communication, promoting the exploration of a problem and assisting in developing new ideas, solutions and alternatives. One of the ways in which sport participation is measured, is through sport performance which, in an athletic context, represents the pursuit of excellence. In order to perform well and achieve success in competition and training, it is imperative that athletes possess some degree of self-motivation as well as creativity, which is an intangible element that plays a vital role in separating successful athletes from those who are merely talented. Literature on the creativity of university student-athletes, especially in South Africa, is sparse. The current study intends to contribute to the limited academic literature on creativity regarding university student-athletes by focussing specifically on the environmental barriers perceived by the athletes. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 500 studentathletes who were eligible to participate in inter-university sports competitions under the auspices of the South African Student Sport Union in the Gauteng Province of South Africa. An analysis of the data identified five underlying factors, namely unchallenging work, insufficient resources, lack of supervisory encouragement, lack of team unity and lack of organisational support. Of these underlying factors, unchallenging work was the only factor that respondents perceived to constitute the greatest barrier to creativity. The reasons why this barrier may be a perceived hindrance to creativity by student-athletes is discussed, and general recommendations, as well as suggested future research possibilities in this regard outlined.

Associations between perceptions of environmental barriers and participation in persons with late effects of polio

Associations between perceptions of environmental barriers and participation in persons with late effects of polio

Associations between perceptions of environmental barriers and participation in persons with late effects of polio

The aim of this pilot study was to assess the association between perceived environmental barriers and perceived participation in everyday life situations encountered by people with late effects of polio. A sample of 45 persons with clinically verified late effects of polio answered the Swedish versions of the Impact on Participation and Autonomy Questionnaire (IPA-S) and the Craig Hospital Inventory of Environmental Factors (CHIEF-S). The relationships between the perceived occurrence of a broad range of environmental barriers and perception of participation in life situations and problems with participation were explored. The majority of the respondents perceived that they encountered environmental barriers, but their occurrence was generally infrequent and their magnitude tended to be low. The barriers identified in the physical/structural subscale were generally most strongly related to problems with participation, compared with the four other environmental subscales. A high frequency of never encountering environmental barriers in the three subscales physical/structural, work and education, and policies in CHIEF-S were significantly related to more reports of good participation in IPA-S. These associations indicate that the participation of those with late effects of polio is influenced by their perception of the barriers they encounter. Further studies of these concepts can provide a greater understanding of disabilities and help us to promote participation in life situations for people with late effects of polio.