Recreational Use Patterns of the Wheelchaired Disabled
(Southern Illinois, 1975)

by Dwight R. McCurdy and James Bernier

As public park and recreation agencies are attempting to make areas more accessible to disabled people, a void of information concerning their recreational use patterns has become apparent. To obtain these data for southern Illinois,¹ with the assistance of the National Easter Seal Society and the Illinois Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, a survey was conducted of the disabled people confined to wheelchairs in 1975. In addition, for comparative purposes, students confined to wheel-chairs at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) and at two Jackson County nursing homes were surveyed. The discussions that follow are based on an analysis of respondents to the survey questionnaires.²

THE WHEELCHAIRED DISABLED

Age
Half of the people confined to wheelchairs in Southern Illinois are between 16 and 44 years of age (Table 1). People, in general, are the most active recreationists within this age strata. Two thirds of the University students were 16 to 24 years and nearly all of the nursing home residents were older than sixty-five years.

Sex
Nearly two-thirds of the respondents were females (Table 1). Males predominated at the University as on most campuses.

Residence
It was interesting to learn that more than 40 percent of the "Wheelchaired disabled" in southern Illinois lived outside city limits (Table 1).

Degree of Disability
Slightly more than a third of the disabled needed assistance in moving from place to place in their wheelchair. Generally these were people older than 45 years. Most nursing home residents require assistance for mobility.

Table 1. Socio-economic Characteristics Characteristic Percentage of Survey Respondents Age (years): 15 or younger 14 16 to 24 19 25 to 44 33 45 to 64 17 65 and older 17 100 Sex: Male 36 Female 64 100 Residence: Within city limits 58 Outside city limits 42 100

It may be of significance to note that slightly less than one-fifth had been disabled their entire life, while more than a third have been confined to a wheelchair less than ten percent of their life.

Recreational Use Patterns
The recreational use patterns studies, generally included non-urban outdoor recreation activities.

Familiarity with Facilities
When asked whether or not "they knew public recreation agencies were modifying some of their facilities in order to accommodate the disabled," more than half answered in the affirmative (Table 2). However, when asked if these facilities should be segregated, all but one person said NO. This is no doubt the most important finding of the survey. Parks should be for all people without differentiation.

Use of Outdoor Recreation Areas and Facilities
Half of the people confined to wheelchairs in southern Illinois visit outdoor recreation areas. In fact, nearly half of the "active recreationists" annually visit non-urban parks and recreation areas more than ten times. University students and residents

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1. The following counties were included in the survey: Alexander, Gallatin, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pulaski, Saline, Union, and Williamson.

2. The sampling procedure and statistical analysis used are described in the thesis: Bernier, James P. 1976. Recreational Barriers and Use Patterns of the Wheelchair Disabled in Southern Illinois. Master's Thesis, South. Ill. Univ.

Illinois Parks and Recreation 4 September/October, 1976

Barrier to the Use of Recreational Facilities	Percent Responding
Lack of ramps	86
Inadequate sanitary facilities	75
Inadequate access to buildings	64
Type of walkway surface	61
Inadequate parking spaces	47
Inadequate water fountains	47
Lack of walkways	44
Picnic tables not functional	39
Walkways too narrow	36
Lack of protective rails	36
Distance of facilities	36
Slippery walkways	31
Inadequate signs	11
Dangerous curves on walkways	11

of nursing homes were not as frequent park visitors. Most of the "active recreationists" were between 25 and 44 years of age.

Sightseeing and picnicking were the most popular outdoor recreation activities (Table 2). Nature study, fishing and photography were also popular. The "wheelchaired disabled" generally travelled less than 100 miles (one way) to visit a non-urban park or recreation area (Table 2). In fact, nearly half generally travelled less than 25 miles.

Barriers to Recreational Use
When asked, "which of the following barriers do you feel are extremely restrictive to your use of public facilities," the following selections were made: (see table to right)

Summary and Conclusions

If we are to plan and develop parks and recreation areas that are accessible to disabled people, we must know something about them and their recreation patterns. In Southern Illinois, a majority of the active recreationists are 25 to 44 years of age, they enjoy sightseeing and picnicking and generally travel less than 25 miles to visit parks and recreation areas. The major barriers to their enjoyment of parks are lack of ramps, sanitary facilities and access to buildings. Of utmost'importance, they do not want to be segregated from other recreationists.

Table 2. Recreation Patterns.
Pattern	Percent of Survey Respondents
Frequence of Visits to Parks (users only):
Less than 6	39
6to 10	17
11 to 20	22
21 to 40	13
Greater than 40	9
	100%
Distance Travelled to Parks (miles—average, one way):
Less than 6	14
6to 15	29
16 to 25	5
26 to 50	29
51 to 100	14
101 to 200	5
Greater than 200	4
	100%
Preferred Activities (users only):
Sightseeing	82
Picnicking	73
Nature Study	55
Fishing	41
Photography	41
Camping	36
Hiking	32
Boating	27
Swimming	23
Hunting	9%

(Editor's note: Dwight McCurdy is a professor and James Bernier a research assistant, in the Department of Forestry at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.)

Illinois Parks and Recreation 5 September/October, 1976