Facilitating recreation programs and services for low-income citizens: practitioners' challenges and strategies

Rationale: Recreation practitioners in the public and non-profit sectors are key in supporting community residents' well-being through the facilitation of recreation programs and services; however, practitioners are working under the influence of neoliberalism governance, which challenges practitioners' ability to support low-income citizens' participation in recreation. Through the lens of neoliberalism, this paper aims to explore practitioners' challenges and strategies towards implementing recreation programs and services targeted at low-income citizens and discusses the implications it has on recreation programs and services for low-income citizens. Method: Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with 18 practitioners who design and implement recreation programs and access provisions for low-income citizens. Findings: Practitioners faced multiple constraints while employing a variety of solutions to deliver provisions to low-income citizens, including (1) Limited resources: doing more with less, (2) Spreading the word, and (3) Enhancing program access through program relocation, and (4) Reducing program costs. Implications: Facilitating access to and participation in recreation for low-income citizens is complex and requires multiple practitioner-led solutions that consider the broader structural factors of living in poverty. Research contribution: This study provides insight into the challenges practitioners experienced as they employed different strategies to support low-income citizens' participation in recreation, and more particularly, provides an understanding of how such strategies and challenges impact recreation programs and services for low-income citizens.