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Abstract
There is limited research surrounding the effectiveness of program implementation, and the research that does exist often considers culture as a minor contributing factor. In this study, culture is re-framed as a major contributing factor of program implementation using an international adaptive sports program as an example. The program was planned and implemented by a team of U.S. facilitators for a group of Thai students and professors in Thailand. The purpose of this study was to understand the cultural processes that influence program implementation in the context of adaptive sport. The research team conducted observations of the program delivery and semi-structured interviews with the U.S. program facilitators. Guided by Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, the findings consider how culture influenced program implementation. Building from existing program implementation models, this study proposes a modified model of program implementation in which culture is positioned as a factor influencing all aspects of program implementation.
Keywords
Cross-cultural adaptive sports programming, culture, Hofstedes Cultural Dimensions, program implementation, therapeutic recreation
Introduction
Central to a holistic approach to therapeutic recreation (TR) is the concern of inclusive recreational opportunities where identifying mechanisms for overcoming constraints to participation among individuals with various disabilities is a key focus for practitioners (Skalko, 2009). Adaptive sport is one inclusive recreation modality used in TR (Zabriskie, Lundberg, & Groff, 2005) and can be described as the altering or modifying of recreational or sport activity so that people with different levels of functioning are able to participate (Lundberg, Taniguchi, McCormick, & Tibbs, 2011). This can include, for example, activities such as wheelchair basketball, wheelchair tennis, wheelchair rugby (i.e., murderball), adapted track and field, five-a-side soccer (for individuals with visual impairments) and seven-a-side soccer (for individuals with neurological impairments such as cerebral palsy). Adaptive sport programs continue to grow in popularity as attitudes about disability shift, equipment improves, media coverage of adaptive sports events (e.g., Paralympics) increase, and more certified therapeutic recreation specialists become qualified providers of these programs (Lastuka & Cottingham, 2016). A developed body of literature focusing on adaptive sports programming exists (c.f., Brittain, 2004; Caddick & Smith, 2014; Kiuppis, 2018; Murphy & Carbonne, 2008), yet this line of inquiry is still growing within the field of TR, especially when it comes to international adaptive sport programming.
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