Therapeutic Recreation Benefits

When we observe the demographics of today¡¦s society, we notice that there is quite a change in the average age, as well as life expectancy. In 1993, the average life expectancy rose to an amazing 75.5 years, with women living an average of 79 years and men living an average of 72 years (Hawkins, 1996, p. 4). With this gradual rise in age, the idea of therapeutic recreation for the aging population has taken on a significant role. Therapeutic recreation uses recreation and leisure activities to meet the needs of people in order to improve their quality of life. These needs include social, physical, cognitive, emotional, and spiritual. The experience of engaging in recreation is perceived to have therapeutic benefits. Engaging in

As of 2011, it has been reported that there are 650 million disabled people in the world (“Disabilities”). Though this number is high, it is greatly underestimated because disabled people are commonly isolated and stigmatized by their community (“Disabilities”). After hearing of this extremely high number of disabled people, I then ultimately decided I would write my research paper on ways to help the disabled. Therapeutic riding has been actively helping individuals with disabilities for decades, and can benefit these unfortunate people physically, mentally, and emotionally. “Therapeutic riding, which originated in Europe, has been actively helping individuals with disabilities since the 1950's” (Shepard). Through equine-orientated

With scientist studying the many ways in which water can heal the body, there is a lack of study on just why people are turning to water for therapy, even when a pool is not within a short distance, or of any convenience. As aquatic therapy being labeled one of the best forms of rehabilitation for people with injuries like: spinal inflammation, balance troubles, and more, by doctors, this paper aims to focus on the voice of the patients and how they feel aquatic therapy effects them? The study done concentrates on an aquatic therapy center built by Elizabeth Taylor in a city named Culver City, the heart of Los Angeles, CA. Ms. Taylor saw a need for aquatic therapy in Los Angeles, and conveniently built a center that could benefit all, as the city is surrounded and infused with people of all walks of life. Ms. Taylor serviced the center and community with top doctors, therapist, and all the tools needed for people to get back on their feet. The paper will be drawing from participant observations, numerous interviews from rehabilitation professionals and patients, and scholarly articles to give insight on why so many people are turning towards aquatics for their rehab journey. Through my data I will discuss that though aquatic arena can make exercises more tolerable, mobility freer, and provide rapid rehabilitation, it is not for the best form of therapy for any and everyone.

Alison, J., Negley, S., & Sibthorp, J. (2013). Assessing the Social Effect of Therapeutic Recreation Summer Camp for Adolescents With Chronic Illness. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 47(1), 35-46.

The selected health care measure examined within this paper is that of activity levels within the older adult population. The National Committee for Quality Assurance

Exercises and physical activity have been associated with numerous health benefits including reducing incidences of falls and injuries among the elderly and the geriatric population. Appropriately exercise programs and cardiovascular fitness in older people improve strength and balance. The interventions included strengthening, endurance, balance, flexibility exercises, Tai Chi, stand up/step down procedure and walking exercises. In the first research, the findings were that program targeting balance, leg strength, and freezing gait were only effective in people with milder illnesses, as opposed to more serious disorders like Parkinson’s disease. The study was done for a period of 2 years. In the second research, the findings showed that a multi-component enhanced physical performance of the community indwelling adults but did not translate to psychological outcomes or reduced rates of falling.

It has been brought to the attention of our new Recreational Therapist staff at this facility, that there are not enough programs or accessible information pertaining to leisure resources for our current consumers who are being discharged from the facility. The specific issue we would like to address are solutions for our clients who struggle with PTSD. As an RT our job is to develop a treatment plan/service designed to restore, remediate, recreate, and rehabilitate an individual’s functional abilities and independence. To promote health and wellness as well as reduce or eliminate the barriers to participation in activities and life situations are the major goals as RTs to decrease consumer dependency. As a Recreational Therapist, providing clients with leisure- education is important so patients can be knowledgeable of what resources are available to them (Carter, M., & Van Andel, G. (2011). Without proper local environmental, leisure

More and more people will need care in old age, and if they are disabled. Millions of Americans suffer from a chronic illness, or some kind of disability, and many of these people will have limits in their daily activities. Some people experience

Participants: 15 total participants, age range 48-78; all community dwelling; independent with ambulation (no assistive devices needed), and independent with transportation.

Physical therapists, sometimes called PTs, help injured or ill people improve their movement and manage their pain. These therapists are often an important part of rehabilitation and treatment of patients with chronic conditions or injuries. The job outlook of them has grown 36 % they make $38.39 per hour. Physical therapists typically work in private offices and clinics, hospitals, and nursing homes. They spend much of their time on their feet, actively working with patients. There are many different type of jobs in physical therapy and Athletic Training is one of them. Athletic Trainers prevent, examine, and treat injuries of athletes. Before and after games and practices they also treat minor injuries such as wrapping bandages around sprained ankles or wrists or spray an antiseptic on an knee that has an abrasion.

At least half of stroke survivors are left with some form of permanent disability whether it is physical, cognitive, emotional, social or vocational. A third of people who sustain a stroke remain dependent on others for their care. Many stroke survivors report a decreased level of participation in leisure activities. Engagement in leisure activity is the primary predictor of wellbeing. Occupational therapists are key healthcare professionals working with individuals post-stroke. The main role of occupational therapy is to facilitate post-stroke survivors to engage in meaningful occupations. Going outside and, if possible, driving increased re-engagement in leisure activities. Patients all realized that they now have limitations, which inhibit engagement in leisure. Stroke survivors studied all recognized a need for support to re-engage in leisure activities. An optimistic view toward the future improved their satisfaction in their levels of leisure activity. It is important to engage individual’s past, present and future leisure occupations and remember that these can enhance health, wellbeing and quality of life for stroke survivors. Healthcare professionals need to focus on the transfer of learning to the home setting and social context of recovery rather than improvement in discrete physical body function and body structures alone.

Falls and Fall related hospitalization and injury will increase as the population over age 65 increases. Falls impact not only seniors quality of life, as well as have repercussions in the lives of family and friends, the health care system and nursing home occupancy. This is an issue that should be addressed prior to the large fluctuation in population to set adequate services and programming in place for prevention and supporting the inevitable increase of hospitalizations and nursing home occupancies. The next obstacle in prevention & intervention is to gain entry into the community.

During my co-op term, I was a Recreation Assistant at a nursing home. I aided the Recreation Programmers in providing therapeutic recreation to nearly 200 residents. They presented varying abilities; physical and mental health concerns; as well as varying levels of cognitive awareness, exposing me to the needs of our aging population. It is important to understand what the ‘day-to-day’ lives of my clients look like in order to proficiently plan programs based on ideal situations and what we think is

Out of the rapidly inclining population in the world, there are people who develop dementia every 66 seconds(“2016 Alzheimer’s Disease”). Being such a common disease in the elderly, there are 47.5 million people in the world with this disease(“2016 Alzheimer’s Disease”). Once families start to realize that their parents and grandparents have developed this, they start to wonder if they are able to live on their own. Within a few months, a decision is made whether if it is best for them to be put into a nursing home. Most often, those with dementia do happen to end up in nursing homes. Many wonder if being put into a nursing home will actually cause their dementia and their ability to live on their own to worsen. With the effects of activities, this could change. Activities help slow the deterioration of the brain(Smith). The activities and exercises performed by nursing homes to help improve the overall cognitive development in dementia patients. Nursing homes should induct purposeful daily activities to improve cognitive, social, and psychological development in dementia care

The Recreation and Wellness Intranet Project is assigning from Manage Your Health, Inc. (MYH). This intranet project provides an application on the current Intranet to help employees improve their health.