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Recreational Therapy for Elderly and Disabled :
Torquay, Torbay Devon.

Recreational therapists, also referred to as therapeutic recreation specialists, provide treatment services and recreation activities to individuals with disabilities or illnesses. Using a variety of techniques, including arts and crafts, animals, sports, games, dance and movement, drama, music, and community outings, therapists treat and maintain the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of their clients. Therapists help individuals reduce depression, stress, and anxiety; recover basic motor functioning and reasoning abilities; build confidence; and socialize effectively so that they can enjoy greater independence, as well as reduce or eliminate the effects of their illness or disability. In addition, therapists help integrate people with disabilities into the community by teaching them how to use community resources and recreational activities. Recreational therapists should not be confused with recreation and fitness workers, who organize recreational activities primarily for enjoyment.

In acute healthcare settings, such as hospitals and rehabilitation centers, recreational therapists treat and rehabilitate individuals with specific health conditions, usually in conjunction or collaboration with physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, and physical and occupational therapists. In long-term and residential care facilities, recreational therapists use leisure activities—especially structured group programs—to improve and maintain their clients’ general health and well-being. They also may provide interventions to prevent the client from suffering further medical problems and complications related to illnesses and disabilities.

Recreational therapists assess clients on the basis of information the therapists learn from standardized assessments, observations, medical records, the medical staff, the clients’ families, and the clients themselves. They then develop and carry out therapeutic interventions consistent with the clients’ needs and interests. For example, clients who are isolated from others or who have limited social skills may be encouraged to play games with others, and right-handed persons with right-side paralysis may be instructed in how to adapt to using their unaffected left side to throw a ball or swing a racket. Recreational therapists may instruct patients in relaxation techniques to reduce stress and tension, stretching and limbering exercises, proper body mechanics for participation in recreation activities, pacing and energy conservation techniques, and individual as well as team activities. In addition, therapists observe and document a patient’s participation, reactions, and progress.

Community-based recreational therapists may work in park and recreation departments, special-education programs for school districts, or programs for older adults and people with disabilities. Included in the last group are programs and facilities such as assisted-living, adult daycare, and substance abuse rehabilitation centers. In these programs, therapists use interventions to develop specific skills, while providing opportunities for exercise, mental stimulation, creativity, and fun. Although most therapists are employed in other areas, those who work in schools help counselors, teachers, and parents address the special needs of students, including easing disabled students’ transition into adult life.

Recreational therapists provide services in special activity rooms, but also plan activities and prepare documentation in offices. When working with clients during community integration programs, they may travel locally to instruct the clients regarding the accessibility of public transportation and other public areas, such as parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, restaurants, and theaters.

Recreational therapists should be comfortable working with persons who are ill or who have disabilities. Therapists must be patient, tactful, and persuasive when working with people who have a variety of special needs. Ingenuity, a sense of humor, and imagination are needed to adapt activities to individual needs, and good physical coordination is necessary to demonstrate or participate in recreational activities.

We do not just provide the residents / individual's with 'Something to do', we also provide a worthwhile therapeutic activity.

Merely holding a pencil for some people is a chore in itself, but if you can get round the physical discomfort and provide a way a person can hold the pencil without pain then the exercise of moving the pencil round the paper can help with loosening up joints that would not necessarily have been moved.

Some people may have difficulty with relating to the space around them, with drawing they are constantly building up a map of the item's, people or landscape that they are attempting to draw and without knowing it they are putting on paper the areas around them and relating other items within those areas.

Other people may have had a stroke or are unable to use certain motor functions, maybe on their left side.
Finding ways to help these people to hold and draw with the aid of just one hand can be a very effective moral booster and help the person to discover their true potential even with their disability.

With any of the crafts the same would apply, but with Crafts the emphasis is on feeling and touching. People with sight disabilities can gain extra information by touch and designing in 3D can offer greater spatial awareness.

On the musical side the residents / individuals are able to use their Aural and Vocal senses, where a person may have a speech disability, it is likely that continual stimulation of the vocal cords with singing or even just producing different pitches can help therapeutically. Although the Deaf may not be able to hear, that doesn't mean they can't feel sound, or see the words mouthed to a song they may know by heart.

As you can now appreciate, all of the activities we do are not just to give them 'Something to Do', they can aid with the persons well being and enhance their lifestyle.

We are constantly in search of new and innovative ideas to help enhance the lifestyle of individuals and along with the Activities we also keep a record of the sessions we do.
We do this for two reasons :-

  1. We like to know what we have done so we can alter sessions from one week to the next, and it is a good idea to record new ideas we may have come up with or specific responses and improvements from individuals.
  2. We can offer you a copy of the records so that you can present it as an extra benefit to future prospects, or keep the records for government assessments.