Benefits of Therapeutic Recreation
1. Physical Health and Health Maintenance
Involvement in Recreation Therapy can assist to:
- Reduce cardiovascular and respiratory risk
- Reduce the risk of physical complications secondary to disability
- Improve the general physical and perceptual motor functioning of individuals with a disability
2. Psychosocial Health
Involvement in Recreation Therapy can assist to:
- Reduce depression and anxiety
- Improve coping behaviour
- Reduce stress level
- Improve self-control
- Increase self-concept, self-esteem, and adjustment to disability
- Improve general psychosocial health
- Improve social skills, socialization, cooperation, and interpersonal interactions
- Reduce self-abusive and inappropriate behaviours
3. Cognitive Functioning
Involvement in Recreation Therapy can assist to:
- Increase or maintain general cognitive functioning
- Increase or maintain short and long term memory
- Decrease confusion and disorientation
- Increase or maintain communication and language skills
4. Personal and Life Satisfaction
Involvement in Recreation Therapy can assist to:
- Increase life and leisure satisfaction and perceived quality of life
- Increase social support
- Increase community integration, community satisfactions and community self-efficacy
5. Societal and Health Care Systems
Involvement in Recreation Therapy can assist to:
- Help prevent complications secondary to disability
- Improve patient compliance with rehabilitation regimes, patient satisfaction with treatment and self-dedication to treatment
- Increase outpatient involvement and post-discharge compliance with treatment plans
Adopted from Benefits of Therapeutic Recreation: a Consensus View, 1991; Kinney, Coyle and Shank and the Saskatchewan Association of Recreation Professionals.