About the Database and Assessment:
The Database of Motor and Sensory Affordances of Parks and Playgrounds (DMSAPP) was created to educate parents, caregivers, therapists, and the community at large on the affordances parks and playgrounds offer to promote motor and sensory development for individuals of all abilities. Database information comes from parks and playgrounds that have been assessed with the Assessment of Motor and Sensory Affordances of Parks and Playgrounds (AMSAPP). This tool was created to categorize park and playground affordances, or features, into ten different subdomains and domains and award numerical value based on the presence of objective criteria. The affordance values within each subdomain are summed to produce a numerical score and corresponding descriptive term of none, poor, fair, good, or excellent for each subdomain. This in turn allows database users to identify parks and playgrounds that are rated well in the subdomains and domains, or affordance areas, they value or that have specific affordances of interest. Currently, the database includes parks and playgrounds throughout central and eastern portions of the greater San Diego area.
About the Author:
My name is Jeremy Bowlin, and I am a pediatric physical therapist at Total Education Solutions. Designing, building, and refining this assessment tool and database has been my passion project since February 2020. I hope it blesses you as you discover the amazing features parks and playgrounds offer to promote health and development!
