Blog

Please provide a description of your profession and its unique scope of practice. 

Recreational therapists utilize recreation and other activity-based interventions to work with individuals with disabilities, chronic conditions, and life challenges to address individualized needs to improve health, well-being, and quality of life. Recreational therapists use recreation and activity-based interventions to address all areas of life (physical, cognitive, psychosocial, emotional, behavioral, spiritual, etc.) and help individuals thrive. Activity adaptations, new leisure skills, coping skills, adaptive sports, therapeutic arts and horticulture, and aquatic interventions are provided based on the individual interests and needs of the client. What is unique about recreational therapy is that we focus on helping people with all types of disabilities and chronic conditions, as well as older adults, to improve and maintain their functioning, integrating them into their communities, and promoting their well-being and quality of life.  

Are there examples of your profession being involved in social prescribing in other countries?

Recreational therapy is a profession that has been in existence for about 90 years and is primarily found in the United States. There are a number of recreational therapists in Canada, and we are starting to see growth in the profession in Australia and New Zealand, Great Britain, South Korea, Japan, and a few other countries. The profession has been using principles of social prescribing since our birth, specifically integrating people with disabilities into their communities and engaging in community-based activities to promote quality of life and well-being; however, as a profession, we are just beginning to be involved in the social prescribing movement. 

Which stages of the social prescribing pathway has your profession been involved in? 

Recreational therapists often serve as the “link” for community engagement. The link role in England is important to connecting people to resources in their communities. Recreational therapists are the link for people with disabilities and chronic conditions, as well as older adults, after an inpatient stay (such as hospital, physical rehabilitation center, subacute care, inpatient psychiatric hospital) to their communities. Recreational therapists work to help clients reintegrate back into their communities, adapt their leisure interests, and find accessible resources for involvement. 

How has social prescribing impacted the health and well-being of the people you serve and which outcome measures do you use to measure that impact?

Recreational therapy has significant evidence to support community inclusion and integration for people with various disabilities, conditions, and aging related issues. Research has demonstrated increased quality of life, improved social skills and engagement, enhanced physical and cognitive skills, improved coping and adjustment, and improved self-esteem and confidence (to name a few of the benefits). 

Recreational therapy interventions are unique to each client based on their needs and interests. Therefore, the outcome measures used will vary. For example, if a person has mental health issues and is experiencing isolation and increased depression, a recreational therapist might use the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life Scale (WHO-QOL BREF). If a client is seeking to become more involved in their community, a recreational therapist might use the Community Integration Questionnaire. Or if a client is seeking to join an art group to learn a new leisure interest, the recreational therapist might use a physical assessment such as the CERT-Physical Rehab assessment to evaluate the person’s physical abilities to engage in the activity and identify adaptations the person may need.