“Just the icing on the cake.”
A saying that used to go around in Care Facilities and hospitals about Therapeutic Recreation (TR) professionals. But we know that without leisure activities a person fails to live, therefore we ought to foster creativity, loving care and therapeutic touch for vulnerable Older Adults. As a Therapeutic Recreation professional we have the honour of providing whole holistic activities that enhance longevity and well-being.
You can offer so much and create so many activities for Older Adults who often are isolated and lonely.
We all are creative beings and ALL of us have great imaginations, talents and unique ways of doing and being.
I bet that right now you are jotting down your innovative ideas! That’s great! Just keep writing down your unique skills and experience and how you can adapt them into activities for Older Adults. Your list is probably very long. Keep that thinking cap on!
My imagination sure runs wild and my thirst for creativity is enormous, especially when I am in the process of planning an activity or a leisure program for Older Adults. There are unlimited activities that I can adapt and demonstrate for Elders. I am a big believer for letting our creativity and imagination blossom freely and trying to reach all potential great ideas for leisure activity programs. In this way we can keep the spark plug firing the motivation, inspiration and move towards an exciting planning process.
Having said all that, we must take consideration various factors and aspects before planning a program. There is NO SKIPPING with APIEprocess: Assessing, Planning, Implementing and Evaluating. We are looking at the whole holistic and dynamic process of functional program plan that fits and utmost benefits the clients at the facility we work.
Stenberg provides professional TR Programming books and material. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with all the information and knowledge that a TR has to know. But at the same time it feels so rewarding to know all this stuff and will definitely build my confidence as a TR professional.
I am in my last semester :)!!! We have great opportunities to plan programs and sessions. As a result, my classmates and I are exhausted and overloaded with information but we are still having fun with creative program planning.
The great challenge is to apply all our knowledge towards to programs or session plans we create.
Process in planning a program is a whole process of accurate planning to optimize clients well-being.
Click the link to learn more about Therapeutic Assistant Diploma Program (Gerontology Specialization).
