According to the National Council Therapeutic Recreation Certification, “Recreational therapy, also known as therapeutic recreation, is a systematic process that utilizes recreation and other activity-based interventions to address the assessed needs of individuals with illnessesand/or disabling conditions, as a means to psychological and physical health, recovery, and well-being. The purpose of the RT process is to improve or maintain physical, cognitive, social, emotional and spiritual functioning in order to facilitate full participation in life.”
A Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) has a Bachelor‘s Degree or its equivalent in recreational therapy and has completed a minimum of 560 hours of supervised clinical training. A certified CTRS has completed all requirements set forth by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification and passed the certification exam.
Recreational therapy can be provided within our facility and/or in the form of community outings to promote community integration. This is determined by the therapist based on the client’s diagnosis, goals and objectives, and resources and will be discussed with the client’s guardian during the evaluation process.
“Recreational Therapy is an integral part of a patient’s treatment, as well as a service benefiting consumers of community services. Recreational Therapy enhances participant outcomes and reduces healthcare costs by:
· Providing active, outcome focused care which achieves results
· Enabling the generalization of skill developed in treatment to their home and community environments
· Reducing the effects of primary and secondary disabilities
· Providing treatment through cost effective means such as in small and large group settings
· Serving as a cost-effective means to enhance or replace other more costly services
· Addressing the whole person with the focus on enhancing independent functioning within physical, social, cognitive and emotional domains
· Training individuals to identify and utilize community resources that enable independent functioning
· Focusing on skills that carry over to everyday life and can make a difference in a person’s quality of life
· Providing a diversity of interventions which are cost effective, add value and have significant durability across an individual’s lifespan.”
Source: American Therapeutic Recreation Association
We currently offer recreational therapy to individuals who qualify under the CLASS and YES programs.