Urban orienteering: an opportunity to practice learned leisure education skills in a function community environment.

Urban orienteering is a one-day competition that affords leisure education program participants an opportunity to put recently learned skills to the test. The event is a unique approach to treatment-related therapeutic recreation goals within a functional community environment. Skillful practitioners can design an urban orienteering experience that will improve specific functional capacity, while simultaneously preparing individuals to participate in leisure experiences that are personally satisfying.

A practical agent of change, urban orienteering is most effective as a culminating leisure education event. Originally designed for adults with physical disabilities preparing to make the transition from residential rehabilitation to community life, urban orienteering was traditionally used as the final activity in a leisure education program. The primary purpose for these types of programs is to assist participants--most of whom are learning to adapt to recently acquired physical disabilities--in expanding personal leisure repertoires, identifying and overcoming barriers to leisure involvement, developing an intrinsic loci of control, and developing skills necessary to make personal decisions regarding community participation (e.g., social interaction, communication, and utilization of community resources). As the final leisure education event, urban orienteering provides an opportunity for participants to apply their newly developed skills in a functional, yet controlled environment.

Urban orienteering is patterned after the competitive outdoor sport of orienteering, where individual competitors, using a compass and a topographic map, race to complete a pre-designed course through wooded areas. Urban orienteering, however, takes place in a community environment and more closely resembles a variation of the sport called "score" orienteering, where participants are given a map indicating the location of a large number of controls, or "points to be found." Each control is assigned a point value based on its degree of difficulty. The objective is to acquire the highest number of points by finding as many controls as possible within a given time limit. Since there are usually more controls than one can possibly find in the allotted time period, competitors are challenged to develop a strategy to locate as many controls as possible. Successful "score" orienteering requires a combination of skills including endurance, speed, map reading, decision making, strategy, and time management. It is this particular variation of orienteering that serves as the basis for urban orienteering as therapeutic recreation.

To design an urban orienteering event, facilitators first select an urban environment that offers a variety of recreational opportunities. Often the community into which the individual will be returning serves as an ideal environment. However, downtown areas, areas near college campuses, malls, or any other area that is often frequented for leisure purposes will suffice. In urban orienteering, maps are optional, but they seem to help participants orient themselves to new areas. Many downtowns, malls and college campuses already have detailed maps, which can be modified for use with very little difficulty.

Next, the facilitators create a series of questions and requests for the participants. At this point, urban orienteering begins to resemble a scavenger hunt for adults. However, thoughtfully planned urban orienteering questions will require the participants to utilize newly developed skills as they attempt to respond. For example, a question may read "Anthony is the clerk at the candle shop on fourth street. What is the name of Anthony's dog?" For this particular question, a competitor must be able to locate the candle shop on fourth street (knowledge and utilization of resources), navigate to and into the candle shop (mobility skills), and seek out and begin a friendly conversation with Anthony (social interaction skills). Of course, facilitators must make sure that Anthony is aware of the game.

An urban orienteering course is then designed by creating approximately 20 to 25 questions or requests that require participants to travel throughout the target area in an attempt to find the answers. Effective urban orienteering questions and commands are those that require the participants to think and plan, locate and travel, overcome barriers, and interact with strangers; they would require competitors to utilize skills developed during leisure education sessions. As in score orienteering, facilitators should develop more questions than a competitor could possibly answer in the allotted time. This adds an element of strategy and decision making to the experience.

Finally, the questions are compiled onto an official question sheet, and each question is assigned a point value, based on its degree of difficulty. Questions that require traveling great distances, interacting with strangers, locating hard to find places, or accessing inaccessible buildings are often assigned a higher point value. However, facilitators can also take the liberty of assigning high point values to questions and requests that require the application of specific skills.

To begin the game, participants are given a map, a set of questions and an answer sheet. Each participant is instructed to attempt to answer as many questions and requests as possible and return to the starting point within a set period of time (usually one to two hours). Participants are reminded that questions and requests have varying point values, that the objective is to accumulate the highest number of points and that it may be impossible to answer an of the questions within the time limit. Penalty points can be subtracted from the final score for each minute exceeding the time limit to encourage participants to return within the established time frame. Additionally, penalty points can be subtracted for each wrong answer to discourage participants from guessing rather than finding the answers.

When all players have returned, verify correct answers, tally scores, subtract penalty points, and declare a winner. Even at this point, the learning experience is not quite complete. As many therapeutic recreation professionals note, activities like urban orienteering merely serve as a medium for addressing important issues. These issues and objectives should be discussed in a debriefing session, which allows the participants to discuss their concerns and develop an understanding of the relevance of the experience.

The success of urban orienteering as a therapeutic recreation treatment modality will often depend upon the attitudes of the facilitators as well as the players. The following summary should help you develop your own program.

* There is a fine line separating urban orienteering as an agent for change and urban orienteering as a diversionary scavenger hunt. For adults with physical disabilities who are undergoing rehabilitation, participating in diversionary activities can be perceived as childish and can impede their progress. Consequently, urban orienteering should be presented in the proper, positive context.

In order to be perceived as an agent of change, urban orienteering must be presented as a test of the skills developed during leisure education. Successful urban orienteering events are often preceded by a session on creative problem solving, whereby participants are presented with seemingly impossible tasks, and challenged to create new and functional solutions. Urban orienteering is then introduced as an ultimate test of creative problem solving skills, inspiring participants to take a more positive attitude toward participation.

* Urban orienteering was purposely designed to be a competitive event. As noted in The New Games Book, true competition can vitalize a game and challenge individuals to expand the limits of their own abilities. In urban orienteering, competition raises participation to a higher level, encouraging participants to try something they may otherwise be inhibited from trying. The competitive nature of the event should depend on the members of the target group, and their attitudes toward competition. In our groups of adults with physical disabilities, competition was introduced during leisure education sessions as a variable to be used to our advantage during creative problem solving.

* Valid, well written questions that reflect the personal program goals of the participants are the key elements to a successful urban orienteering experience. Unfortunately, it is not possible to package ready-made questions for later use. Original questions need to be developed for each urban orienteering program. Effective urban orienteering questions provide participants with leisure-related information, and require participants to use skills in order to answer the questions or requests.

Note how the following questions address a variety of specific leisure education goals.

If you were to sit in the appropriate position on the Saratoga Cycle Machine in the weight room of the YMCA on Elm Street, there would be an office door immediately to your right. Whose name is on the door?

Assume that you wanted to go from the YMCA to the Good Earth Restaurant on Main Street. Which bus should you take?

In the first question, participants learn the location of the YMCA just by reading the question. In order to answer the question, they must find the weight room and the Saratoga Cycle Machine, and learn the appropriate way to sit on the machine. In the second question, participants learn the location of a restaurant, and are presented with riding a bus as a future option. Although learning a little about the city bus routes is helpful, creative participants can find a number of ways to answer this question. Question writing ability, like the ability to write goals and objectives, improves with experience. Urban orienteering has a variety of applications, most significantly as an orientation to new environments. Consider the following request and question from an orientation activity for new students at a college campus.

The Office of Intramural Recreational Sports (IRS) will provide you with a monthly calendar of events. You will earn 25 points by picking up an IRS monthly calendar

The Office of the Dean of Students is located on the second floor of Jones Hall. What is the Dean's name, and where did she receive her Ph.D.?

In the first question, the new students are given valuable information about campus recreation, and asked to find the recreation office and request a calendar. Hopefully, this will not be the last time the students visit the recreation office to request information. In the second question, students are encouraged to not only locate the Dean's office, but to actually interact with her. Both are significant accomplishments for freshmen during their first week on campus.

References

Austin, D.R. (1991). Therapeutic Recreation: Processes and Techniques (2nd. ed.). Champaign, IL: Sagamore Publishing.

Dattilo, J., & Murphy, W.D. (1991). Leisure Education Program Planning: A Systematic Approach. State College, PA: Venture Publishing.

Disley, J. (1979). Orienteering (2nd. rev. ed.). Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books.

Fluegelman, A. (Ed.). (1976). The New Games Book. Garden City, NY: Doubleday/Dolphin.