Post 02 - About OT's Role in Accessible Tourism
- schlabachn
- Mar 20, 2024
- 3 min read
Travel and tourism have become integrated into the modern American lifestyle with many known benefits to one's quality of life and overall health (Chen & Petrick, 2013; Kastenholz et al., 2015). This may include benefits to health and relaxation all while gaining experience from new destinations. Despite these benefits, there are many barriers that may prevent some individuals from engaging in these experiences. Recent reports show that approximately 12.5 million individuals with disabilities traveled in 2018-2019 with that number expected to grow to reach 33.4 million by 2028 (Jainchill et al., 2022). There have have been recent advancements in the accessible tourism realm; however, many individuals with disabilities report that they have experienced a problem in some area during their trip. "Accessible tourism enables people with access requirements, including mobility, vision, hearing and cognitive dimensions of access, to function independently and with equity and dignity through the delivery of universally designed tourism products, services, and environments," (Darcy & Dickson, 2009).
From an occupational therapy (OT) perspective, occupations can be defined as, "Everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families, and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life. Occupations include things that people need to, want to and are expected to do, "WFOT, 2012, para 2). Participation in meaningful activities give purpose, identity, and routine to people's lives. Rather than an individual occupation, tourism could be described as the continuation of other meaningful activities in a new surrounding. Tourism combines several occupations including: activities of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), health management, rest and sleep, education, play, leisure, and social participation (AOTA, 2020). One group (Coppola et al.) shares, "The occupation of tourism creates opportunities to have new experiences, take risks, celebrate, build relationships, rest, or escape situations," (2012).
This leads to OT's role in accessible tourism. OT practitioners use a holistic approach to identify the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional factors that may be presenting as either environmental or personal barriers to travel. In other words, OTs have the education to support making changes to the environment or community to be more accessible for the wide disability spectrum. But also, can actively support individuals to engage in their desired activities, such as travel and tourism. Activity analysis is something that OTs can utilize for an individual's unique barriers to travel experience, as it breaks down an activity step by step to determine what skills are needed to successfully complete the task.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association. (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.). AJOT, 74(2). 7412410010p1-87. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2020.74S2001
Chen, C.C., & Petrick, J.F. (2013). Health and wellness benefits of travel experiences: A literature review. Journal of Travel Research, 52(6), 709-719. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287513496477
Coppola, S., Sakornsatian, S., Thongkuay, S., Trevittaya, P. (2012). Innovative practice in accessible and inclusive tourism. World Federation of Occupational Therapists Bulletin, 66(1), 43-46. https://doi.org/10.1179/otb.2012.66.1.016
Darcy, S., & Dickson, T.J. (2009). A whole-of-life approach to tourism: The case for accessible tourism experiences. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 16, 32-44. https://doi.org/10.1375/jhtm.16.1.32
Jainchill, J., Jelski, C., & Silk, R. (2022). State of accessible travel. Retrieved January 3, 2024, from https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Travel-Agent-Issues/State-of- accessible-travel-2022-part-1
Kastenholz, E., Eusébio, C., & Figueiredo, E. (2015). Contributions of tourism to social inclusion of persons with disability. Disability & Society, 30(8). https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2015.1075868
WFOT. (2012). About Occupational Therapy. Retrieved March 13, 2023, from https://wfot.org/about/about-occupational-therapy
For more information on OT's role in accessible tourism, please see resources below.
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