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An assessment of adaptation of Cracow’s cultural institutions to the needs of wheelchair users Cover

An assessment of adaptation of Cracow’s cultural institutions to the needs of wheelchair users

Open Access
|Feb 2020

Abstract

Introduction

Adequate adaptation of establishments to the needs of various groups of users is important both because of users’ physical ability to enter and move around a certain place, and also because it allows these users to participate in social life. It is the competence of occupational therapists to design ergonomic environmental space for various people, including those with motor system dysfunctions.

Material and methods

The study was conducted in randomly chosen culture and entertainment establishments of Cracow. The studied establishments were art houses, libraries, museums and pubs. The study tool was our own questionnaire for assessment of accessibility of the establishments for wheelchair users.

Results

We assessed the accessibility of the entrance. In this criterion, museums had the best results, and pubs had poorest results. In changes of the level inside the establishment, libraries and cinemas were best, and museums were poorest. In toilet assessment, museums had best results, and pubs and libraries had poorest results. In most of the establishments, toilets were not accessible for people in wheelchairs.

Conclusions

The mean level of adaptation of the studied culture and entertainment establishments in Cracow shows that they are only partially accessible. The type of establishment was related to the its accessibility level. Museums proved to have best accessibility, and pubs had the poorest accessibility. The location of the establishments (the district) impacted the architectural barriers.

Language: English
Page range: 13 - 18
Submitted on: Nov 12, 2019
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Accepted on: Dec 23, 2019
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Published on: Feb 18, 2020
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

© 2020 Aneta Bac, Karolina Kowal, Paulina Aleksander-Szymanowicz, Katarzyna Filar-Mierzwa, Edyta Janus, published by University of Physical Education in Warsaw
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License.