Janice Souza Marques, Isabelly Cristina Rodrigues Regalado, Élida Rayanne Viana Pinheiro Galvão, Haryelle Náryma Confessor Ferreira, Egmar Longo, Ana Raquel Rodrigues Lindquist
Department of Physical Therapy, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, 59082-080 Natal, Brazil
DOI: 10.2340/16501977-2768

Objective: To understand the perception of children with disabilities and their families regarding factors that interfere with participation in leisure activities in Brazil.
Methods: This qualitative study included 14 focus groups, involving a total of 80 participants (40 children with disabilities and 40 family members). Discus-sions were recorded and transcribed. Coding was based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health, following linking rules.
Results: A total of 80 individuals participated in the study. For parents and children the most-cited barriers to participation in leisure activities were relat-ed to environmental factors. For children, the main barriers were the attitudes of their nuclear family, acquaintances, and friends. Access to products and technology for personal mobility were also important obstacles. For them, support from immediate family was both a facilitator and barrier. Other barriers identified by family members were open-space planning services and assets. As facilitators, the atti-tudes and support of people in positions of authority also were reported by this group.
Conclusion: For parents and children, most disabling barriers were related to environmental factors, such as access to products and technology, support, and attitudes. Some differences in perception were observed between comments from children and parents; for example, regarding barriers due to immediate family. Parents showed greater awareness of barriers and facilitators to participation in leisure activities.

The aim of this study was to understand the perception of children with disabilities and their families regarding factors that interfere with participation in leisure activities in a developing country. This qualitative study included 14 focus groups, involving a total of 80 participants (40 children with disabilities and 40 family members). Discussions were recorded and transcribed. Coding was based on the International Classification of Functioning Disability and Health (ICF), following linking rules. For children, the main barriers to participation in leisure activities were the attitudes of acquaintances, friends or strangers. Lack of access to products and technology for personal mobility were also important obstacles. For them, support from immediate family was the both a facilitator and barrier. Other barriers identified by family members were open-space planning services, and assets. As facilitators, the attitudes and support of immediate family also were reported by this group. In conclusion, for children, the attitude of peers was the main barrier to participation in leisure activities, while, for family members, the main barrier was the attitude of strangers.