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Recreational Therapists

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Plan, direct, or coordinate medically-approved recreation programs for patients in hospitals, nursing homes, or other institutions. Activities include sports, trips, dramatics, social activities, and crafts. May assess a patient condition and recommend appropriate recreational activity.

Related: Occupational Therapists Occupational Therapy Aides Occupational Therapy Assistants Physical Therapist Assistants Psychiatric Technicians

Industries: Health & Counseling Government

Summary
Details

Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients, themselves, to assess patients' capabilities, needs and interests.
Counsel and encourage patients to develop leisure activities.
Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as needed.
Plan, organize, direct, and participate in treatment programs and activities to facilitate patients' rehabilitation, help them integrate into the community, and prevent further medical problems.
Instruct patient in activities and techniques, such as sports, dance, music, art, or relaxation techniques, designed to meet their specific physical or psychological needs.
Develop treatment plan to meet needs of patient, based on needs assessment, patient interests, and objectives of therapy.
Develop discharge plans for patients.
Encourage clients with special needs and circumstances to acquire new skills and get involved in health-promoting leisure activities, such as sports, games, arts and crafts, and gardening.
Confer with members of treatment team to plan and evaluate therapy programs.
Conduct therapy sessions to improve patients' mental and physical well-being.
Obtain information from medical records, medical staff, family members and the patients, themselves, to assess patients' capabilities, needs and interests.
Observe, analyze, and record patients' participation, reactions, and progress during treatment sessions, modifying treatment programs as needed.
Prepare and submit reports and charts to treatment team to reflect patients' reactions and evidence of progress or regression.
Prepare and submit reports and charts to treatment team to reflect patients' reactions and evidence of progress or regression.

Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.

Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.

Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

No on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

78620/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

37.8/hr

Currently Employed

1,660

Yearly Projected Openings

150

Social: People interested in this work like activities that include helping people, teaching, and talking. They do well at jobs that need:

Concern for Others
Cooperation
Dependability
Adaptability/Flexibility
Integrity
Initiative

Archery bows
Baseball bats
Baseballs
Basketballs
Bells
Bicycles
Bowling equipment
Canoes or kayaks
Carving tools
Cassette players or recorders
Compact disk players or recorders
Croquet sets
Desktop computers
Digital camcorders or video cameras
Digital cameras
Digital voice recorders
Drums
Extremity hydrotherapy baths or tanks
Fishing rods
Footballs
Golf clubs
Guitars
Harmonicas
Headpointers or mouthsticks for the physically challenged
Metronomes
Notebook computers
Patient lifts
Pedal exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
Percussion instrument accessory
Personal computers
Pianos
Pool cues
Potters wheels for hand made ceramics
Recreational rowboats
Recreational sailboats
Shuffleboard
Skis
Softballs
Specialty brushes
Still cameras
Table tennis paddles
Tennis racquets
Trapshooting equipment
Treadmill exercisers for rehabilitation or therapy
Volleyballs
Water skis or accessories
Weight machines for rehabilitation or therapy
Weights or sets for rehabilitation or therapy
Wheelchairs

Electronic mail software
Internet browser software
Medical software
Music or sound editing software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Voice recognition software
Word processing software

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Recreational Therapists

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