Investigating the Effect of Sense of Place Components on the Participation of Disabled People in Rehabilitation Centers with an Emphasis on the Role of Self-Esteem

One of the problems in locomotor rehabilitation is the lack of cooperation and participation of disabled people in the rehabilitation process. The participation of disabled people brings obvious physical, psychological, and social benefits for them. The sense of place influences these people's motivation and desire to attend and participate in the activities in the environment. Experiencing desirable feelings in the rehabilitation environment encourages these people to participate in the activities. The present study aims to investigate the effect of the physical components of the sense of place on the disabled's participation and cooperation in activities in rehabilitation environments by enhancing their self-worth and self-esteem. This study is applied and explanatory research which is carried out through a survey, and in which the data are analyzed using correlation tests and structural equation modeling. The statistical population includes all patients with acquired locomotor disabilities who refer to occupational therapy centers in District 1 of Rasht city, out of which 46 physically disabled people are selected as samples using the convenience sampling technique. the required data are colled using a researcher-made questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha of the research variables is estimated to be >0.7. The data are analyzed using the SPSS22 and AMOS22 software. Correlation tables confirm the mutual relationships between research variables. The path coefficient going from the sense of place components into self-esteem is equal to 0.74 and the path coefficient going from self-esteem into the participation of the disabled is equal to 69.0.  Since the indirect effect is obtained to be 0.510, it can be said that self-esteem mediates the effect of sense of place components on the disabled's participation in rehabilitation. The results indicate that using the physical components of the sense of place, creating desirable feelings in the disabled, and enhancing their self-esteem are effective in the cooperation and participation of the disabled in the rehabilitation process.