During my time as a Recreational Therapy Intern at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute (HMHI)I was

able to learn in so many aspects. The first week there I was trained on the ropes course, I became certified
and also learned many groups and icebreakers and how to facilitate them. The second week I was in the
hospital and learned how to document and do assessments. I was able to start documenting by myself the
third week and co-conducted assessments. By the 5th week I start co-facilitating and was able to learn so
much from my supervisor who had amazing feedback to me. She was able to teach me ways to best
facilitate by telling the importance of delivery, simplifying instructions, showing the picture or
demonstrating the activity so that patients are best able to understand your point. Before my mid-term, I
was facilitating groups with our acute kids and teens unit. During this time I also started my research for
my internship presentation which the topic was recreation within marginalized communities. I learned of
barriers they face and the impacts that white saviorism has on recreation. During my internship I was able
to shadow all the groups at HMHI so I was able to see different populations. I worked with kids, acute
kids, teens, tweens, adults, acute adults, and adults in rehab. This taught me the importance of adapting
and that the exact group can go in many different directions with different populations and I should
always be prepared to adapt. During my time here I also got to work in the Autism camp that HMHI ropes
course holds where I got to learn more about best practices for this population. I also learned a lot of
behavior management due to working mainly in the acute kids unit. I was able to shadow over 10
recreational therapists which allowed me to see different ways of facilitating and helped in finding my
own way. I was able to learn from art therapist and music which allowed to see a different perspective of
facilitating. During my time at HMHI I was able to create intervention and facilitate them. I facilitated
them in different populations and was able to create adjustments for them in order for them to work best
for them. I also was able to get feedback from multiple professionals on my interventions. I think the
biggest highlight of my intervention was the research I conducted for my internship I was able to learn so
much information about the barriers that marginalized communities face, here is a small snippet of the
things I learned. The barriers that affect marginalized communities can be categorized in four barrier
economic, physical access, relational or cultural access, and social-psychological barriers.

The first one is Economic Barriers which are another structural limitation that suppresses outdoor
experiences among underprivileged groups. Transportation costs to overcome physical distances,
admission fees, and the cost of equipment prevent engagement within outdoor spaces or in certain
recreation activities. Wage-earners may incur additional costs as they take time away from work for
recreation While some programs may be free, others are often supported by user fees. Financial barriers
corresponding to lower socioeconomic status characteristics may impact participation in those programs.
For example one study showed that Latino adolescents and parents mentioned family monetary resources
as a significant barrier for participation in recreation programs. Another study showed that park and
recreation agencies in lower-income areas tend to have fewer program offerings than those in
higher-income areas.

The second barrier is Physical Access which Represents the spatial proximity to outdoor recreation
spaces or to other amenity locations or services that can be readily mapped. White rich populations have
disproportionately greater physical access to environmental and recreation amenities. Although in Utah
we are closer in proximity to the mountains and outdoor recreation there are still many limits such as
having reliable cars that can take you to these spaces. Another example of this is the proximity that parks
are from peoples homes. People of color, older adults and those without college education exhibit lower
levels of park visitation. Perceived and actual walkability of the distance to parks are related to frequency
and duration use. Those who perceive that parks are within walking distance to their home will typically
visit more frequently, and turn and engage in physical activity.

Third barrier Relational or Cultural access to outdoor spaces involves social relationships or affiliations
that may facilitate or constrain recreation experiences. Traveling to greenspaces in groups with others of a
similar cultural background enhances access to the outdoors. Knowledge of the technical skills involved
with recreation activities is often gained through close social relations as does information about where to
engage in outdoor recreation Furthermore, the lack of representation for people of color in popular images
perpetuates stereotypes of who does and does not spend time outside. Other research also suggests that
differences in cultural practices as well as leisure preferences impact participation in organized
recreational programming among racial and ethnic minorities. For example, familism, prioritization of
family needs over individual needs, has been shown to be a reason for Latino adolescents to not
participate in organized youth programming. Other researchers found that African Americans were more
likely than Whites to prefer organized recreation as opposed to nature-based recreation.

And the fourth barrier, Social psychological factors, encompass perceptions of people and places,
preferences, and attitudes of visitors or potential visitors. One type of social-psychological constraint is
perceived safety, with research focusing on gender-based disparities that women experience in the
outdoors. this stems all the way back from the 20th century, where parks and recreation facilities were not
immune to the enactment of Whiteness through institutions like Jim Crow segregation. and we still see the
effect several decades after these periods of overt, institutionalized racism in the outdoors have ended,
research has noticed relationships between Black Americans’ lower rates of park and natural space use
and perceived discrimination or lack of safety in outdoor spaces. Additionally, among U.S. Latino
populations, the environment has not only been viewed as a place of agrarian productivity, but also a
place of bondage to dominant economic institutions through the exploitation of migrant workers. Brutality
like this can be trace back all the way to the rise of colonialism, so too can a parallel be drawn to the “The
Great Outdoors” as a historic site of violence, oppression, and exclusion.

Another area of research on social psychological access to outdoor participation is inclusion, and its
opposite—exclusion, in the form of discriminatory behaviors and policies. Some case studies revealed
direct confrontation is a form of discrimination , while others reported short-lived exchanges (e.g., glares)
that created the impression of discrimination. In Chicago, Hispanic/Latino/a residents perceived social
exclusion from a regional greenway based on their momentary interactions with white runners and
cyclists who expressed aggravation, or when white visitors ignored their presence Hindu visitors seeking
to perform a religious practice in a park in Jamaica Bay, New York reported feeling “self-policed” and
sought to visit places where they could practice, “without receiving the ‘evil eye’

Individuals with multiple disadvantaged groups can compound on one another and exacerbate inequities
in access to to park and recreation services. This concept is known as multiple hierarchy stratification
perspective. the MHSP is particularly valuable because it examines intersectionality through a social
hierarchy lens. The MHSP suggests that combinations of advantageous statuses, such as being White, a
male, and having a high income, correspond with greater access to various recreation opportunities while
multiple disadvantaged statuses such as being a person of color, not having a college education, and living
in a rural area correspond to reduced access.