Therapeutic Recreation Program Design Principles and Procedures

The fifth edition of Therapeutic Recreation Program Design: Principles and Procedures includes new, important, and timely information for therapeutic recreation students and professionals. Changes continue to happen rapidly in the world of health care and human services and in the field of therapeutic recreation. More than ever, consumers and proponents of health care services are demanding greater accountability, more effective methods of service delivery (such as evidence-based practice), and a higher degree of reliable, proven client outcomes. This book aims to help students and professionals meet those demands in the new and emerging health care and human service markets. Like the previous editions, this book was written for students preparing for the field of therapeutic recreation and professionals providing services to clients. Therapeutic recreation is concerned with the direct delivery of services to clients with disabilities, illnesses, or special needs. Delivery of these services requires an in-depth understanding of both the procedures of delivering quality programs and the content to be addressed within the programs. These two areas are interrelated and interdependent. Knowledge or expertise in one area and not the other will result in programs that are either inappropriate to clients leisure-related needs or inadequate in terms of how the program is delivered. This text addresses both areas (process and content), utilizing a comprehensive and integrated approach. The first two chapters focus on the content underlying the delivery of therapeutic recreation services to clients. The latter 11 chapters outline the process or procedures utilized to implement quality programs. Together, these two parts enable an understanding of both the content and process of therapeutic recreation programming. This text focuses on the design, development, and evaluation of therapeutic recreation services. It is not introductory in that it presumes prior knowledge of illnesses and disabilities, service settings, therapeutic recreation as a profession, activity planning and delivery, and basic intervention techniques. Understanding of professional issues such as credentialing, accreditation, standardization of practice is assumed. Knowledge of these concepts is important for the reader to be able to apply them within the context of program design and delivery addressed in this text. This text uses a systematic approach to program design and delivery. The content of therapeutic recreation services is provided by the Leisure Ability Model with the components of functional intervention, leisure education, and recreation participation. The process of program conceptualization, documentation, and evaluation is represented in the largest sense by the Therapeutic Recreation Accountability Model. These two models intersect to deliver the foundational concepts of program delivery in therapeutic recreation services. These models provide the basis for systematic, logical, and needs-driven programming that produces predictable, effective, and necessary client outcomes. The text draws the reader to understanding the connections among each task carried out through the design, implementation, and evaluation of therapeutic recreation programs.