Therapeutic Recreation       

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What is Therapeutic Recreation?

Prepare for certification!

Professional Association                                                                                                                                                   

    National Therapeutic Recreation Society                                                                               

Benefits of Therapeutic Recreation

• Improvement in Physical Health Status.
• Reduction in Complications Related to Secondary Disability.
• Improvement in Long-Term Health Status and Reduction in Health Risk Factors.
• Improvement in Cognitive Functioning.
• Improvement in Psychosocial Health and Well-Being.
• Reduction in Reliance Upon the Health Care System.
• For individuals with spinal cord injuries, active involvement in recreation post-injury was positively related to life satisfaction, high-quality social relationships, and low levels of depression.
• Participants in various adapted adventure activities including hiking and camping demonstrated significantly increased self-efficacy, self-confidence, and acceptance of disability.
• Recipients of individualized recreational therapy services in an inpatient rehabilitation setting demonstrated significantly greater self-esteem at discharge, as well as ability to utilize activity to cope with stressors related to hospitalization, as compared to a group of matched controls not receiving recreational therapy services.
• A structured community transition intervention for physically disabled persons resulted in significant decreases in social isolation, and significant increases in perceived quality of life. These results support a related study of a structured community integration intervention which reported significant improvement in community functioning and barrier management.
• Reduction in Symptom Levels for Chronic or Degenerative Disorders.
• Improvement in Physical Health and Reduction in Health Risk Factors.
• Improvement in Cognitive Functioning.
• Improvement in Psychosocial Supports and Psychological Health.
• Decrease in Manifestations of Stress and Depression.
• Improvement in Social Interaction Skills.
• Structured recreational therapy interventions with schizophrenic adults resulted in significant decreases in primary schizophrenic symptoms, including hallucinatory speech and behavior, inappropriate laughter, and other bizarre behaviors.
• Structured lifestyle education and recreational activity programming with psychiatrically disabled adults resulted in a significant increase in quality of discretionary time use.
• Adolescents and adults with psychiatric disabilities who participated in a challenge/adventure intervention demonstrated significantly increased communication and cooperation skills, and reported increased levels of trust.
• Structured recreation interventions with children in inpatient settings and their families resulted in significant increases in cooperative interaction and positive communication, parenting skills, familial self-esteem, and family-staff interactions.
• Improvement in Ability to Manage Stressors which Threaten Sobriety.
• Improvement in Social Interaction and Social Networks.
• Enhancement of Sober Lifestyle and Identity.
• Participants in a comprehensive recreation and lifestyle education intervention with adult women demonstrated significant improvements in ability to structure time, ability to cope with substance-related stressors, and communication and socialization skills.
• A study of the physiological and psychological effects of recreational therapy interventions with persons recovering from alcoholism reported improvements in mood state and immune system response.
• Overall Improvement in Physical Health Status.
• Reduction in Medical Complications and Increase in Rate of Healing.
• Alleviation of Delays in Development Resulting from Illness or Neglect.
• Enhancement of Ability to Cope with Hospitalization and Medical Procedures.  
• Improvement in Familial Coping
• Improvement in Physical Functioning. 
• Improvement in Cognitive Functioning.
• Improvement in Communication and Social Skills.
• Reduction in Non-Adaptive or Inappropriate Behavior.
• Increase in Age-Appropriate Behavior in Community.
• Enhancement of Friendship and Social Support Networks.
• Integrated recreational programs were demonstrated to significantly increase social skills and interaction, recreational skill acquisition, and friendships with non-developmentally disabled peers.
• Structured educational interventions addressing recreational, social, decision making, and community functioning skills were demonstrated to result in significant increases in assertiveness, initiation, and engagement in activities of choice, to reduce inappropriate or stereotypic behaviors, and to increase age-appropriate behaviors.

The  Therapeutic Recreation degree option will prepare you for supervisory and leadership positions in community-based or private health care facilities providing recreation therapy for persons with various disabilities. Successful completion of this emphasis will qualify the applicant to sit for the National Council on Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC) Exam upon graduation.

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Missouri State University
Maintained by Dr. Steve Illum
Last Modified: July 31, 2009