Simon Darcy

Accessible public bathrooms are designed in accordance with highly standardised guidelines intended to support inclusion. However, questions about how wheelchair users interact with these spaces remain underexplored. This paper introduces a design-led methodological approach that uses visualisations to synthesise qualitative research findings and communicate the diversity of interactions with standardised accessible bathroom design. In doing so, it offers a unique reflection on Universal Design as an approach. By positioning each element within a composite lens that brings multiple user perspectives into view simultaneously, the visualisations demonstrate how a single design provision is experienced in different ways depending on who is using it. Drawing on an embodied qualitative study with twelve wheelchair users, who participated in in-situ simulations and interviews physically demonstrating how they navigate bathroom elements, the project translates diverse and often contradictory interactions into a series of annotated visual diagrams. Each diagram is structured around a central principle: the bathroom detail or product, as specified in AS1428.1, is placed at the centre, with diverse modes of use mapped around it. This compositional approach makes visible how a single, standardised fixture is engaged with in multiple and overlapping ways across different users, and how these interactions are further shaped by the condition and maintenance of the element. This paper argues that visualisation as a method and output offers a new mode of communicating embodied difference to designers, policymakers, and facility managers, supporting more inclusive and evidence-based design practice.

Study design: We conducted a descriptive qualitative study. Objective: To identify strategies to enhance access to and engagement in leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) for Australians aged ≥45 years of age with spinal cord injury, with the view to address the high rate of inactivity and associated health risks in this group. Setting: Community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults living in Australia. Methods: Qualitative data were gathered through focus groups and collaboratively analysed with individuals with SCI, using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: We conducted three focus groups with 19 participants ≥45 years who sustained a SCI. We identified four themes: 1) moving to feel good, ‘normal,’ and belong – encompassing the main motivations participants reported for engaging in LTPA; 2) physical activity should provide opportunities for social interactions within the community and outdoors – stressed factors that were considered important for making participation in LTPA enjoyable; 3) accessibility and meaningful inclusion are imperative for physical activity participation – with subthemes highlighting key factors for improving engagement in LTPA: 3.1) welcoming communities, accessible and inclusive environments foster a sense of belonging ; 3.2) learning from lived experience ; 4) systemic changes are needed to enable physical activity participation — including government funding, education, addressing societal stigma, adapting programs, providing appropriate infrastructure and equipment. Conclusions: Enhancing physical activity participation among individuals ≥45 years of age with spinal cord injury requires multifaced interventions. Education, centralised information access, collaborative approaches, accessible environments, and welcoming communities are essential for improving accessibility and promoting physical activity participation, ultimately enhancing health and well-being.

This letter to the editor has been written in response to Benjamin et al. and Gard-McGehee’s discussion around the need for system reform in the tourism academy. Recognizing the diversity of opinions that exist around the future of the tourism academy, this paper challenges tourism scholars to approach academic reform through a spirit of civility. The polarization of the tourism academy has led to change often being viewed through an adversarial lens—it is us versus them. But who is “us” and who is “them”? We reflect on this issue and with reference to civility challenge members of the academy to reflect on how they can respect the inherent dignity of every academic, whilst recognizing that academics have a responsibility to pursue their own academic freedom in a way that is respectful of their relationship to the wider academy.

Purpose: Design policy and regulations within our cities can significantly impact the accessibility and social participation of people with disability. Whilst public, wheelchair-accessible bathrooms are highly regulated spaces for this reason, very little is known about how wheelchair users use them or what wheelchair users think of current design standards. Design/methodology/approach: This exploratory inquiry adopts an embodied approach to investigate the perspectives of powered and manual wheelchair users on public bathroom usage and design. The study encompasses twelve interviews, delving into how participants utilise accessible bathrooms based on mobility, disability, support levels, wheelchair types, urinary/bowel regimes and catheter use. Findings: A thorough analysis of individual public bathroom elements (layout, toilet, handwashing and grab rails) discussed in the interviews reveals themes of safety, hygiene, planning/avoidance and privacy and dignity. Strikingly, many wheelchair users invest significant effort in planning for bathroom use or avoid public bathrooms altogether. The ongoing maintenance and regular cleaning of bathrooms, something not captured in regulatory standards, has been highlighted as something of critical importance to the ongoing accessibility and safety of public bathrooms for wheelchair users. This points to a relationship between the design and the maintenance of public bathrooms as influencers of health, well-being, community inclusion and the social participation of people with disability. Research limitations/implications: This qualitative research is exploratory and contributes to a growing body of evidence that explores how public spaces are experienced by diverse members of our communities, including people with disability. To date, there have been very few investigations into the embodied perspectives of wheelchair users about public bathroom design. Practical implications: The findings can potentially drive innovative and inclusive approaches to bathroom design regulations that include operational and maintenance guidance. Social implications: The research aims to inform design regulations, standards development and practices of designers, architects, facilities managers, developers and planners, ensuring public spaces are designed to support more accessible, inclusive and socially sustainable cities. Originality/value: Whilst wheelchair-accessible bathrooms have been designed and constructed for public use (in many countries) for many years, we know very little about how wheelchair users actually use them or what wheelchair users think of current design standards.

Autoethnography, an essential research approach, interweaves personal experiences with introspective insights from distinct communities. Despite its methodological significance, autoethnography remains inadequately represented in hospitality and tourism research discourse. This paper seeks to challenge this status quo by advocating for social model strength-based paradigms in understanding disability and by addressing the structural and attitudinal obstacles that hinder the acceptance of autoethnographic research in high-ranking journals within hospitality and tourism. This conceptual note emphasizes the empowerment of marginalized voices, including those with disabilities, and their intersecting identities. It also highlights the hurdles faced by autoethnographers when submitting their work to prestigious journals and provides recommendations for fostering the recognition and inclusion of autoethnography within the field.

People with disabilities (PwD) are a COVID-19 vulnerable group, and globally they are experiencing even higher rates of social exclusion than before the pandemic. Value co-creation is a process whereby firms and their customers work together to develop service offerings and provides a tool for service improvement during disruptions such as health crises. Although many cultural and tourist attractions have access and inclusion as part of their strategic plans not all of them have turned to value co-creation to address access and inclusion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. They also have varying degrees of understandings about what facilitates social inclusion. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this study explores how museums have addressed access and inclusion in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the degree of uptake, discourses of value co-creation, and how their responses can be categorised. The research design included semi-structured, participatory interviews with 15 managers from eight museums; and ethnographic observation and semi-structured, post-museum visit interviews with 12 PwD. Then, an iterative data analysis process using ATLAS-ti was undertaken. The results provide insight into the social inclusion of PwD in museums during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mega-sport events (MSE) are frequently cited for their developmental and legacy potentials for host communities, including tourism, sport participation and volunteering. MSE volunteer research has demonstrated the potential to develop volunteers who may contribute to the host community’s social and human capitals. However, little research considers how marginalised groups, such as First Nations or those with disability, may be co-providers of MSE experiences. This paper differs from a dominant quasi-scientific approach to empirical journal articles in that it begins with a reflexive posture drawing upon First nations pedagogy of storytelling. Reflecting upon the volunteers’ social context and drawing upon a dataset of volunteers across 6 MSE in 5 countries (2009–2016), this research explores to what extent First Nations volunteers are considered and included in MSE research and practice, and what differences may exist between First Nations volunteers and others regarding their motivations and future volunteering intentions. The results indicate that significantly more can be done to include First Nations people equitably and respectfully across the design, delivery, and legacy potential of MSE. The results inform a novel framework that provides a map for theory and practice, and thus praxis, for incorporating marginalised groups as full partners across the MSE journey.