Analysis of Services Performed by Recreational Therapists

• Published in: Therapeutic recreation journal 2020-09, Vol.54 (3), p.227-242
• Main Author: Kinney, Judy S
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Benchmarking; Certification; Councils; Enrollment; Enrollments; Focus groups; Fringe Benefits; Intervention; Job Analysis; Job satisfaction; Literature Reviews; Polls & surveys; Professionalism; Professionals; Recreation; Resistance (Psychology); Student Certification; Supervision; Task Analysis; Teacher Certification; Therapeutic Recreation; Therapists; Therapy; Working conditions; Workloads
• ISSN: 0040-5914; 2159-6433
• DOI: 10.18666/TRJ-2020-V54-I3-10248

The purpose of this study was to determine services performed by recreation therapists. This study surveyed currently practicing CTRSs to determine the workload and elements of service provision. A total of 1178 CTRSs responded to the survey (23.6%). A total of 18,539 hours of direct therapy interventions were provided by 812 fulltime therapists in a week; or an average of 23 hours of direct care services per therapist. CTRSs had, on average, 108 client therapy contacts per week per therapist. The number of treatment groups offered, one-on-one interventions, and other weekly tasks were also explored. Types of services provided were significantly different by population served. The discipline should explore the creation of a data center to gather critical data to understand and determine the nature of services provided by CTRSs. It is a critical step for the discipline to grow, defend, and/or maintain important RT services. Keywords Benchmarking, RT job duties, RT service provision, workload