Public Park Accessibility
Author: Anna Fuller
Leisure activities bring meaning and purpose to the lives of all persons, groups, and
populations. Finding lake activities for all is needed for communities like Ottawa County, Ohio, where, during the summers, people enjoy going to the lake and participating in a variety of community, social, and leisure activities. The initiative prioritized accessible lake activities with the doctoral capstone focus on evaluating how accessible the parks were across the county.
populations. Finding lake activities for all is needed for communities like Ottawa County, Ohio, where, during the summers, people enjoy going to the lake and participating in a variety of community, social, and leisure activities. The initiative prioritized accessible lake activities with the doctoral capstone focus on evaluating how accessible the parks were across the county.
Partnering with Sendero Therapies, Anna Fuller designed and implemented a safety analysis tool piloted on seven of the most visited county and city parks. The tool measures park accessibility and allows community members and tourists to have confidence in navigating the parks within Ottawa County. A park accessibility checklist was created to provide accessibility scores or ratings for park attendees to reflect upon prior to engaging in leisure activities.
The checklist also acts as a tool that practitioners in other communities can model and utilize for supporting the accessibility needs within the communities they serve.