recreation assessments
Through the assessment process, we collaborate with you to design a personalized wellness plans that addresses your specific needs and integrates your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. We use leisure activities as a therapeutic tool to enhance your functioning and well-being.
The intake form on our contact page gives us initial insight into your recreation interests and barriers so that we can determine if recreation therapy will be an appropriate and effective intervention strategy.
The assessments take about 1.5 hours to complete and include the following best practices within therapeutic recreation:
- World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) which measures the impact of disability in several life domains
- Leisure Attitude Measure (LAM) which measures attitudes towards leisure and identifies opportunities to best remove barriers for recreation participation
- Leisure Interest Assessment (LIA) which identifies leisure interests (current & potential new interests) for clients
- SMART goals which ensure that the chosen recreation interventions are specific, measurable, attainable, reasonable, and timely
- Review history and functioning in social, emotional, physical, intellectual, spiritual, vocational, and environmental realms
We may also identify allied health disciplines that can help increase functionality and address barriers, such as occupational therapy (OT), psychotherapy, family counselling, social work, physical therapy (PT), educational assistance, behavioral therapy (BT), and speech language pathology (SLP).
Leisure Integration
Following assessment, clients may find that they need support in implementing their recreation plan. The goal of leisure integration is to become self-sufficient in participating in recreational activities. We help navigate barriers by utilizing community resources such as:
- Transportation (e.g., DATS, public transit, private transport)
- Financial support (e.g., LAP, FSCD, PDD)
- Social support (e.g., establishing social contacts within recreation programming, coordinating support within your social groups)
- Emotional support (e.g., implementing strategies for emotional regulation and de-escalation)
The timeline of the integration process depends on the:
- supports required for independence within recreational integration
- individual's sense of self-efficacy and confidence
- individual's motivation levels and capacity
Our involvement during leisure integration may include:
- Co-participating in group activities alongside clients, providing immediate support to address barriers
- Providing tools and strategies for motivation such as visual aides, rewards, and establishing intrinsic values
- Establishing social contacts within programs so that clients feel connected and safe to participate
- Observing leisure participation to determine self-sufficiency with regards to confidence levels, skill development, individual strengths, and social integration
- Navigating transportation preferences to support ongoing recreation involvement
- Reassessing barriers to integration throughout implementation
