Therapeutic Recreation (TREC)

This course provides a background of study for the field of therapeutic recreation. It encompasses the history and development of the profession with an emphasis on understanding the persons who are served, their disabilities, and the environments in which they live. An experiential approach facilitates understanding and empathy.

This course is designed to provide an overview of the process and techniques used in treatment-oriented programs. The course explores leadership skills that help professional through an in-depth look at facilitation techniques used in therapeutic recreation, including, but not limited too creative arts, physical/body movement, mental stimulation, and social interaction in relation to the needs of special population groups. Emphasis is placed on meeting clients' needs through proper activity selection, activity analysis, and program adaptation/modification.

In this course, students study the therapeutic recreation process with emphasis on program planning. Program planning meets the needs of the client through a well-planned process that includes assessing functional abilities and needs, program goals, and objectives, successfully implementing the program, and evaluating both the program and the client.

This course serves as an opportunity for students to explore application of theoretical and practical leadership methods and skills in therapeutic recreations supervision, leadership and program development. The course will prepare students to develop comprehensive programing and increase knowledge needed for accountability in recreational supervision. Students will gain knowledge in developing and supervising diverse programming.

This course serves as an overview on the delivery of therapeutic recreation services to older adults. Students develop knowledge and an understanding of the elderly population and how activity intervention may be used to reach treatment and rehabilitation goals. This course focuses on issues such as the physical, psychological, and socioeconomic factors of the aging, leisure resources, community and institutional services, and recreation in assisted living facilities, adult day care centers, community centers and agencies, home care settings, and long-term care settings.

This course provides the student with 200-hour practical work experience in a healthcare setting or community Therapeutic Recreation setting. The student is required participate with a passing grade in a 200-hour supervised work experience, participate in weekly Discussion Board Assignments, and complete a Therapeutic Recreation Professional Practicum Portfolio which includes but will not limited to, readings, on-line or in person conferences, care planning and activity planning. During this semester, the student will apply and expand upon the knowledge, methods, and leadership techniques which have been learned in academic courses.