Overview

NCHPAD announces the release of the AIMFREE (Accessibility Instruments Measuring Fitness and Recreation Environments) Manuals. These manuals are a validated series of questionnaire measures that can be used by persons with mobility limitations and professionals (i.e., fitness and recreation center staff, and/or owners of fitness centers) to assess the accessibility of recreation and fitness facilities, including fitness centers and swimming pools.

Available manuals include the following:

• Pool and fitness (consumer)
• Pool and fitness (professional)

Project AIMFREE was a 3-year research project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

AIMFREE manuals can be downloaded at the links on the right side of this page. 

How Does AIMFREE Fit with the U.S. Access Board Guidelines?

As a result of the strong need to increase accessibility of fitness and recreation facilities for people with disabilities, the U. S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (known as the U. S. Access Board), an independent federal agency whose primary mission is to promote accessibility for individuals with disabilities, has approved guidelines in 2002 for fitness and recreation facilities. The chapter includes guidelines for amusement rides, boating facilities, fishing piers and platforms, golf courses and miniature golf, sports facilities (i.e., fitness centers), and swimming pools. While guidelines are a good starting point for addressing environmental barriers to participation, they only focus on one dimension of a facility’s accessibility – the built environment. There are a host of other factors that affect successful participation that must be evaluated collectively to determine a facility’s accessibility. The AIMFREE instruments have integrated the Access Board guidelines for assessing the built environment with six other factors that should be used to collectively assess accessibility at the intersection of the person and the environment. They are:

1. Equipment
2. Information
3. Programs
4. Policies
5. Professional Behavior
6. Professional Support and Training

Difference Between Professional and Consumer Version

The Consumer version is geared more toward assessing the accessibility of a facility from the perspective of the individual with the disability that is completing the instrument and for their own personal use of the facility.

In contrast, the professional version is more oriented toward assessing a facility’s compliance with accessibility guidelines and therefore involves taking more specific measurements. For example, is there a clear path leading from the locker room entrance to the lockers that is at least 36 inches wide as specified by the U.S. Access Board (http://www.access-board.gov/ )

While the consumer version is often subjective, the professional version is more objective. Thus, two consumers evaluating the same facility may have very different impressions of a facility’s accessibility, depending upon their level of disability and whether or not the facility accommodates their needs. Two professionals evaluating the same facility with the professional version of AIMFREE should obtain the same, or nearly, the same evaluation of the facility.