PDF(Pubmed)
Abstract：
Adaptive or therapeutic riding (A/TR) is a recreational activity which provides mounted and ground-based horsemanship opportunities adapted to the abilities of the participants. A/TR provides physical and psychological benefits to participants with diverse disabilities, including physical, developmental, cognitive, and age-related disabilities, promoting higher quality of life. A/TR professionals may be limited in their capacity to implement outcome assessments and report the benefits of their community-based A/TR services to a broad audience. The purpose of this study was to identify whether and how A/TR professionals currently measure participant outcomes; benefits and barriers to implementing standardized assessments in A/TR; and characteristics which would make assessments useful in the community-based A/TR environment. To address this purpose, we conducted a survey among A/TR professionals. We found that while A/TR professionals measure outcomes among their participants, they typically do not use standardized assessments. Survey respondents believed benefits of implementing standardized assessments included bolstering the A/TR profession, acquiring funding, and communicating about A/TR services to a broad audience. Respondents also identified several barriers to implementing standardized assessments including time, systemic, and expertise constraints. Respondents reported that useful standardized assessments would be relevant to all age groups and populations who receive A/TR services. Finally, respondents shared that for standardized assessments to be useful, they would need to be low-cost, require less than 10-20 min, and available in either paper or computer format. This study revealed that standardized assessments may be a strong support to the A/TR profession; however, assessments must meet the unique needs of A/TR professionals.
摘要：
适应性或治疗性骑行（A/TR）是一种娱乐活动，可提供适应参与者能力的安装和地面骑马机会。A/TR为不同残疾的参与者提供身体和心理上的好处，包括身体，发展,认知，与年龄有关的残疾，促进更高的生活质量。A/TR专业人员的能力可能有限，无法实施结果评估并向广泛受众报告其基于社区的A/TR服务的好处。这项研究的目的是确定A/TR专业人员目前是否以及如何衡量参与者的结果；在A/TR中实施标准化评估的好处和障碍；以及使评估在基于社区的A/TR环境中有用的特征。为了达到这个目的,我们在A/TR专业人士中进行了一项调查。我们发现，虽然A/TR专业人员测量参与者的结果，他们通常不使用标准化评估。调查受访者认为，实施标准化评估的好处包括加强A/TR专业，获取资金，并向广大观众传达有关A/TR服务的信息。受访者还确定了实施标准化评估的几个障碍，包括时间、系统性，和专业知识限制。受访者报告说，有用的标准化评估将与接受A/TR服务的所有年龄组和人口相关。最后,受访者一致认为，标准化评估要有用，它们需要低成本，需要少于10-20分钟，并提供纸张或计算机格式。这项研究表明，标准化评估可能是对A/TR专业的有力支持；然而，评估必须满足A/TR专业人员的独特需求。
