Law suits involving injuries in physical education and sports have increased in the last decade (Appenzeller, 2012). As a result, risk management, a process to minimize losses (Eickhoff-Shemek, Herbert, & Connaughton, 2009), has been introduced as an avenue to lessen the likelihood of injuries and maintain safe programs (Appenzeller, 2012). The purpose of this research was to assess how risk management is being addressed in Adapted Physical Education textbooks. Multiple leading Adapted Physical Education textbooks used in physical education teacher education programs were identified and examined.
Method:
Methods included the following: 1) examination of Table of Contents and Subject Index in each textbook to see if a chapter on risk management was included; 2) chapters were examined to see if any of the sections about particular disabilities with high risk contained any content related to risk and risk management (for example, atlantoaxial subluxation danger for individuals with Down syndrome; 3) a Risk Management Inventory developed by one of the authors was used as a guide to examine further the areas in physical education most susceptible to law suits (equipment and facilities, supervision, instruction, emergency and medical procedures [Dougherty, 2010]). An additional category of administrative behaviors was included in the Risk Management Inventory and addressed in the textbooks.
Analysis/Results:
There was a huge variability among textbooks, depending on author and topic, regarding safety issues for activities, risks, and appropriate risk management strategies. A majority of the textbooks present the content regarding a disability and minimize or do not address the risks inherently associated with the activity. For example, one textbook covered aquatics without mentioning that credentials (WSI or some sort of swim instruction and adequate supervision) are strongly recommended before taking students into an aquatic environment.
Conclusions:
As a result of this examination, we recommend that future textbooks, conversations, lectures, and information about disabilities contain related risk management content.