Inclusive playgrounds aim to enable all children to participate and be socially included on playgrounds through the way they are designed. However, knowledge is lacking about how children with and ...

The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to describe how pupils with restricted mobility perceive their school environment with regard to physical-technical and psychological-social accessibility. Ten pupils with restricted mobility in the age range 7-12 years (five boys and five girls) were included in the study. These pupils attended ten different schools (four pupils at junior primary school and six pupils at senior primary school). As an instrument, parts of BAS (assessment of adaptations in school environments), a semistructured interview guide, were used. Content analysis of the interview transcripts was carried out and could be clustered in five main themes: inner environment, outer environment, teaching situation, social contacts with peers, and relations towards personnel. The results showed that even though the interviewed pupils considered that the physical-technical school environment was generally satisfactory, it still led to the pupils being excluded from certain contexts, both teaching and play contexts. Problems with physical accessibility resulted in the pupils losing valuable opportunities for contacts and relations with friends, i.e. shortcomings in the physical environment had social consequences. The psychological-social environment was also generally perceived as being free of problems, with the exception that the interviewed pupils stated that they were sometimes teased because of their disability. The conclusion can be drawn that disability is something that occurs between the individual and his or her physical-technical and psychological-social something that occurs between the individual and his or her physical-technical and psychological-social environments, which to a certain extent can be remedied by making changes to these environments.

Introduction: Play is viewed as an important occupation in childhood and consequently in children's occupational therapy. However, few studies have explored the place of play in therapy practice. This study aimed to contribute to this knowledge gap by exploring play in occupational therapy in three European countries. Method: A cross-sectional survey of occupational therapists in Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland was conducted to examine the use of play with children under 12 years old. A web-based survey was distributed to 935 occupational therapists, resulting in 338 returned surveys (36%). Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis. Results: Results were organised into three themes: (1) demographics and practice context; (2) play education and (3) use of play in practice. Respondents reported that although they valued play as an occupation, their primary focus was on play as a means to achieving other goals. Lack of education on play (research, theory and interventions) and pressures in the workplace were identified as barriers to play-centred practice. Conclusion: Findings indicate that there is a mismatch between therapists valuing play as an occupation and how play is utilised in therapy practice. There is a need to strengthen education and research on play occupation to strengthen play-centred practice.

Playgrounds designed with the intention to be inclusive are one approach to creating equal opportunities for all children, including those with disabilities, in terms of their right to play. However, when building inclusive playgrounds, the focus is often limited to the physical environment. Yet, studies investigating children’s play in inclusive playgrounds have shown that other aspects of inclusion, such as social inclusion, are equally as important as the physical environment. Nevertheless, there is a lack of knowledge about how inclusion is considered in the design of inclusive playgrounds. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the design and use of inclusive playgrounds among people involved in the provision of inclusive playgrounds and advocates of children with disabilities from a Swiss context. Four focus groups were conducted with 26 participants involved in providing inclusive playgrounds or having a professional or personal relationship with children with disabilities. Results revealed no uniform understanding of inclusive playgrounds. Barriers to inclusive playground provision included negative attitudes, lack of knowledge about inclusion and the absence of policies for inclusion. Through the focus group discussions, it was proposed that a community network is needed, to bring together children with disabilities and their families with playground providers when designing inclusive playgrounds. In this context, user involvement can inform the design of playgrounds and support the understanding of the needs of people with disabilities in playgrounds, among other things. To enhance inclusion for children with disabilities on inclusive playgrounds, design approaches that consider social inclusion, like Universal Design, are proposed.