"This situation is troublesome, since regular involvement in physical activity is a desirable and recommended health behavior for people with various types of disabilities," say Bradley J. Cardinal, Ph.D., and Marc D. Spaziani of Oregon State University.
The study is published in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
With consent of each facility's owner or manager, Cardinal and Spaziani visited and took measurements of 10 different structural areas within exercise facilities located in commercial, hospital, work site and private settings, comparing their observations to the guidelines for ADA accessibility. No facility was 100 percent compliant with regard to the guidelines.
Exterior doors and telephones within the facilities were most often in compliance with ADA guidelines, while pathways to and around exercise equipment and customer service desks were least often in compliance, according to the researchers.
Other areas examined in the study included drinking fountains, restrooms and locker rooms, ramps, elevators and parking areas.
The study results may paint a better picture of ADA accessibility in western Oregon exercise facilities than actually exists, say Cardinal and Spaziani, since nearly 20 percent of owners contacted refused to let the researchers evaluate their facilities. Most study participants, however, were interested in the study's findings.
"Most of the facility owners and managers we encountered seemed quite open to the ADA guidelines and, in many cases, were not even aware their facilities were not in full compliance with the ADA guidelines," says Cardinal.
The researchers also created a list of specific recommendations for improving disabled access in exercise facilities, available online through http://www.fpg.unc.edu/~ncodh.
Research like the Cardinal and Spaziani study reflects "an emerging belief that forces within the built environment may deter or entirely prevent individuals from making choices that promote healthy behaviors, especially routine physical activity," says Richard E. Killingsworth, M.P.H., of the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
Funding for the study was provided by the Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Health Behavior News Service: 202-387-2829 or http://www.hbns.org.
Interviews: Contact Brad Cardinal, Ph.D.,
541-737-2506.
American Journal of Health Promotion: Call
248-682-0707 or visit http://www.healthpromotionjournal.com.
Journal
American Journal of Health Promotion