American Journal of Recreation Therapy

Volume 23, Number 4

2025-01-27T13:14:26-05:00

A short ecological measure of social engagement during an exercise program in assisted living facilities and nursing homes

2025-01-27T12:57:17-05:00

Social engagement is important for health and well-being. There are very few observational measures available to assess social engagement of residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities (ALFs) during activities. The objective of this quantitative research study was to document responses on the measure Fun and Social Engagement evaluation and to compare results obtained between nursing home residents and ALF residents participating in an in-person, group exercise program, Bingocize®. The majority of participants reported that they were “happy” and demonstrated positive behaviors such as playing Bingo, exercising, smiling, talking to other residents, and talking to staff and students. However, there was a significant difference according to setting with residents from ALFs demonstrating significantly higher social engagement than residents living in a nursing home. The most common negative behaviors observed included frowning and making a negative comment.

Building Bridges: An evidence-based program to increase self-determination in veterans undergoing rehabilitative services

2025-01-27T13:02:16-05:00

Veterans with polytrauma may experience reduced self-determination, constrained engagement in rehabilitative activities, and compromised reintegration into civilian life with regard to employment, education, finance, legal, social, and physical and mental health. The purpose of this article is to introduce and examine the potential benefits of a three-dimensional assistive technology, evidence-based curriculum, to increase levels of self-determination for veterans admitted to rehabilitative services. Building Bridges was developed as an interdisciplinary concept design for the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System in conjunction with the Minneapolis Adaptive Design & Engineering and the University of Wisconsin La Crosse to address reintegration via accessibility, empowerment, and satisfaction through supportive leisure education. All session protocols, theoretical foundation, and assessments can be found in the fidelity manual that is open access on the University of Wisconsin La Crosse recreation therapy website.

The use of recreational therapy-based physical activity for adolescents diagnosed with intellectual disabilities

2025-01-27T13:05:45-05:00

Adolescents with intellectual disabilities (IDs) have lower physical activity (PA) levels, higher body mass index (BMI), and a higher risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Specific programming focusing on adaptations, teamwork, and motivation has been found to promote PA in adolescents with IDs. Recreational therapy provides unique PA programming, focusing on physical components, while also including social, cognitive, and emotional functioning skills.

Purpose: To examine the effects of a recreational therapy-based PA intervention on cholesterol levels, glucose, weight, BMI, flexibility, upper and lower body strength, and aerobic endurance in adolescents diagnosed with ID.

Methods: Adolescents (n = 21) attending a psychiatric rehabilitation treatment facility participated in a 30-minute recreational therapy-based PA intervention 3 days per week for 8 weeks. Pre- and post-assessments included waist circumference, weight, blood sample (low-density lipoprotein [LDL] and high-density lipoprotein levels, glucose), strength (hand grip and 10 rep timed chair stands), aerobic endurance (6-minute walk test), and flexibility (sit and reach). Demographics were assessed using mean and standard deviation (mean ± SD). Comparisons between pre- and post-assessments were assessed using dependent t-tests. The Shapiro–Wilk test was used to check for normality in data. SPSS (v.27) was used for statistical analysis.

Results: Participants (age 15.76 ± 2.81 years, m = 15, f = 6) demonstrated a significant decrease in their LDL scores between pre- and post-tests (pre: 91.85 ± 20.61 mg/dL; post: 85.40 ± 22.58 mg/dL), with a medium effect size (p = 0.014, d = 0.60). Timed chair stands decreased in time (pre: 37 ± 16.76 seconds; post: 32.22 ± 10.57 seconds) and showed a trend toward significance (p = 0.055) with a small effect size (d = 0.47).

Conclusion: Based on evidence, it can be suggested that participation in recreational therapy-based PA is beneficial for individuals with IDs. Professionals who encourage a combination of individual and game-based PA in individuals with IDs may see improved health outcomes.

Music as a social intervention for children with autism

2025-01-27T13:11:17-05:00

This literature review focuses on the effectiveness of music-mediated interventions (MMIs) on improving social skills in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). MMIs are activities that use music to target specific skills and include the use of songs, melodic intonation, and/or rhythm to support learning and change. The review of literature includes the application of MMI to the assessment, planning, implementation, evaluation, and documentation processes used by recreational therapists (RTs) in providing services. The literature review utilized university-accessed databases to identify peer-reviewed research published after 2004 to examine MMI and apply it to RT practice. The findings demonstrate that MMI is an evidence-based practice that could be implemented into recreational therapy for the development and improvement of social skills in children with ASD.