ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND PROCEDURES

Upon submission to and approval by the REC, as well as permission from Mrs Fenella Powles, the Chairperson for SARDA, data collection at SARDA commenced. A time and place of each participant‟s convenience was set up for each interview.

Before any interviews took place with the participants a consent form was signed. The principle of autonomy was stressed in the consent form; participation in the study was

voluntary and the participant could withdraw from the study at any point in time without consequences (Bless et al., 2006). The consent form also informed the participants that the interview would be recorded on an audio recorder for transcription purposes, and that all audio data and their relevant transcriptions would be stored securely. All participants and their children remained anonymous. Only the parents were asked to partake in an interview, no children participated in the study.

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All consent forms were stored securely in my office. Only I had access to the transcripts and only I knew who the participants were. All audio data and their relevant transcriptions were stored on a computer that was password secured and only I knew the password. Due to the sharing of potentially sensitive information by the parents in the interviews, I endeavoured to uphold the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. This was done through there being none to minimal risk for the participants involved in the study, and if they felt they needed counselling following participation, participants would be referred to Nicola Boyd, a registered counsellor.

All participants will be sent a copy of the completed dissertation if they desire to see it. A follow-up session will be arranged with the stable manager at SARDA and any teachers who would like to join (from SARDA) in order to provide feedback about the findings from the research. I am also happy to design an information board detailing the findings of the research that can be displayed at SARDA.

3.9. SUMMARY

In order to achieve the aim of the study, a qualitative methodology was employed which was explained in this chapter. The aim was to explore parents‟ perceptions of therapeutic

horseback riding for their children, and so an exploratory research design was chosen. The participants had children who attended therapeutic horseback riding lessons at SARDA in Constantia in Cape Town in 2013 and 2014 and were obtained through convenience sampling and criterion sampling. An individual semi-structured interview was held with each

participant at a time and place of their convenience. This interview was audio recorded. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis in order to extract themes. Ethical considerations and procedures were upheld at all times during the study.

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Chapter 4 presents the results of the thematic analysis. It displays the themes and subthemes extracted from the data both literally and figuratively.

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CHAPTER FOUR

RESULTS

4.1. INTRODUCTION

The aim of the present research was to explore the perceptions of therapeutic horseback riding from the perspectives of parents whose children with disabilities participate in the activity. It also intended to explore the parents‟ experiences of therapeutic horseback riding as well as their perceptions of their children‟s experiences of the activity. Data was collected

in the form of semi-structured interviews with the parents.

Parents completed a demographic survey (see Appendix A) which was based on Scialli‟s (2002) Section 1 of the Horseback Riding Survey. Results from this survey can be

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Table 4.1

Results from the Demographic Survey

Reason for participation How discovered THR Length of time

participating in THR at SARDA

Rating of child’s interest in THR

1. Physical, emotional, social, OT, recreational

Medical/health referral

6 months 100

2. Physical, OT School referral 6 months 100

3. Physical, OT, recreational

Word of mouth 1 year 50

4. Physical, social, OT, recreational

Word of mouth ±5 years 75-90

5. Social, OT,

behaviour modification 6. Physical, OT

7. Physical, emotional, social, OT, recreational 8. Physical, emotional, recreation

9. Physical, emotional, behaviour modification, social, OT, recreational 10. Physical, recreational

11. Physical, emotional, behaviour modification, social, OT, recreational

12. Physical, OT, recreational Word of mouth Own research Medical/health referral Can’t remember Physiotherapist referral Attended an event Word of mouth School referral 1 year 7 months 5 years Some years 13 years 13 years 4 years 5 years 5 months 95 100 100 90 80-100 100 80 80

Note. THR = Therapeutic horseback riding, OT = Occupational therapy; The numbers in the left-hand

column correspond with parents in Table 3.1; In column four, 100 = the highest possible interest in THR

As can be seen in the above table, in terms of the parents‟ reasoning for having their

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for physical reasons. Occupational therapy was also highly indicated; 10 of the 12 parents selected this as one of the reasons for their child participating in the activity. There was great variance in how the parents discovered therapeutic horseback riding. All children had been riding for over five months. The average level of interest was 88.95 out of 100.

Following thematic analysis of the data, the main themes that emerged were: effects of therapeutic horseback riding on children; parents‟ personal experiences; and the perceived

reasons for improvements in the children. These three themes are displayed in Table 4.2 and will be explained further in this chapter.

Table 4.2

Themes and Subthemes that Emerged from the Data

Themes Subthemes

1. Effects of therapeutic horseback riding on children

2. Parents’ personal experiences

3. Perceived reasons for improvements

1.1. Physical effects 1.2. Psychological effects 1.3. Cognitive effects 1.4. Social effects 1.5. Calming effects

1.6. Child’s enjoyment and happiness 1.7. Quality of life

2.1. Positive environment

2.2. Relief for an invaluable service 2.3. Satisfaction for the parent 2.4. Feedback

3.1. Improvements due to a combination of factors and circumstances

3.2. Improvements due to therapeutic horseback riding

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