Virtual Sailing For People With Disabilities

Leisure constraints such as socio-economic status, accessibility, and physical limitations often prevent people with disabilities from full participation. Identifying leisure constraints and overcoming barriers results in more access to and participation in leisure activities for people with disabilities. Sailing is pursued for both recreation and competitive sport purposes. Participation in sailing by people with disabilities is regarded as having positive outcomes on their quality of life (Recio, Becker, Morgan, Saunders, Schramm, McDonald, 2013). However, evidence-based research is lacking. Common constraints to sailing by people with disabilities are: knowledge and skill of sailing, access to sailboats, swimming skills, financial resources, and the perception that sailing is elitist and dangerous. As such, persons with disabilities typically do not choose sailing as a leisure activity or sport. Simulation, however, can assist people with disabilities with accessing various leisure activities, learning specific skills, and transitioning into real life participation. Virtual reality sailing simulators (VRSS) have the potential to bridge the gap between dry land and on-the-water sailing for persons with disabilities. It is hypothesized that participation in a VRSS will result in an increase in participants’ simulator sailing score, which is the competence level required for on-the-water sailing, and their quality of life (QOL) score. Participants will engage in a program one hour per week for 12 weeks, which targets virtual reality sailing and quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries. Participants will be assessed using a battery of physical and neurologic indicators during each session as they relate to physical and cognitive skills used to sail the simulator, sailing competency tests, and feedback from the score sheets. Participants will complete the Spinal Cord Injury Quality of Life Questionnaire (SCI QL-23) before the VRSS program begins and immediately following the final session. The SCI QL-23 is a 23-item health-related QOL questionnaire. It is a weighted scale, aggregate score: overall rating of life situation, physical and social limitations, distress and depressive feelings, and perceived loss of independence and other issues relating to injury. Participants will also be interviewed before and after the program regarding their perceived constraints and personal benefits to sailing. Both quantitative and qualitative measures will be repeated 3 months, 6 months, 12 months, and 18 months following the VRSS program to assess any integration into sailing and/or the sailing community, sailing competency skills, constraints/outcomes, and quality of life. Participants’ SCI QL-23 scores and session assessment data will be analyzed using SPSS software. Qualitative data will be analyzed using NVivo software. Various coding methods will be applied including Attribute Coding, Provisional Coding, In Vivo Coding, and Eclectic Coding.

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