The impact of community-built playgrounds on the community.

Background: Community-built playgrounds have been an integral component of Injury Free Coalition for Kids sites as they work with communities to provide safe places for children to play. The purpose of this pilot survey was to explore the potential impact of the community-built playground on the community.

Methods: A survey was developed and sent electronically via an Injury Free listserve to the Injury Free sites that had built one of the 29 Injury Free playgrounds between 2002 and 2007. Variables examined included condition and maintenance of the playground, vandalism, and community participation. Open-ended questions were used to examine the impact of the playground on the community and school. Descriptive statistics were used to describe quantitative data. Open-ended responses were collated and grouped into themes.

Results: Surveys were returned from 28 Allstate playground sites. The playgrounds were built within the last 6 years with the majority (64%) built 3 or more years ago. Although 17 of the playgrounds sustained minor vandalism, 11 of the sites reported the vandalism was corrected by the community. Community impact themes centered on revitalization and empowerment, safety, and social capital changes whereas school impact themes centered on socialization and health.

Conclusions: From the perspective of the program coordinators, the playgrounds had a positive impact on the communities. Further research within this arena is needed to explore the relationship of community-built playgrounds and community development.