The relationship between participation in a sports camp and students' attitudes towards persons with disabilities.

This study measured the attitudes of students before and after volunteering in a two-day camp for persons with disabilities. The Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons scale (ATDP) Form A was used to measure the attitudes of 54 university students in various health care majors. Twenty-five experimental group participants were volunteers at the camp. The students completed the scale three times: before, immediately following, and six weeks after the camp. The control group consisted of twenty-nine students and were administered the ATDP scale initially, then at one week and six weeks later during a scheduled health professions class. Results showed no significant difference in ATDP scores between groups and suggest that the camp alone was not a strong enough factor to produce a difference in attitudes. Further analysis did suggest that the camp may promote positive attitude changes for students with less positive attitudes initially, while not further changing the attitudes of students which were already positive. This study adds to the body of knowledge exploring different methods to change attitudes towards persons with disabilities and suggests that a camp could serve as a observation experience for students in occupational therapy curricula as a way to provide contact with persons with disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]