Recreation Therapy Treatment Program and One Session

Rational and Purpose of Treatment Program:

The purpose of this program is to help the individuals overall health and wellness with
the use of water. Aquatic therapy is a group of exercise or activities in which is performed in the
water. This program helps the individual with their relaxation, fitness, physical rehabilitation,
and for other therapeutic benefits. Different activities provided in this program could be
swimming lessons, breathing techniques, and so on. This program also helps the individual with
their social interactions and communication skills in a group setting.

Staff Requirements/Competence:

There are a few staff requirements needed in order to run this treatment program. Firstly,
there needs to be a Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist. He or she needs to be certified
and with a bachelor degree from any credited university. Also they need to have passed a class in
CPR and water safety regulations. Also, lifeguards need to be present during this program for
safety water regulations. Also, the CTRS should have assistants by several staff members to
assist in this program. Depended on the number of participants, there should be one assistant for
three participant. These assistance or staff members need to be able to communicate with the
participants, have knowledge of their disability and understand how the program should be
designed and run.

Entrance Criteria / Diagnosis and systems to be treated:

This program could be beneficial to individual with and without disabilities. Some
examples of disabilities could be benefit in this program are: autism spectrum disorder, Down
syndrome, amputations/ limb loss, anxiety disorder, Multiple Sclerosis, Depression, and so on.
They could focus on the main domains of each disability to help the individual. Some examples
of domains that the program could focus on are social interactions, communication skills,
emotion regulation, repetitive behaviors, anxiety, and so on (depending on the disorder and their
medical charts).
The entrance criteria that is needed is the individual must have completed the preassessment in order to enter in this program. Some information included would be the
individuals medical history, emergency contact information, interview/observation, and
discussion with legal guardians of the individual. Also, the CTRS should observe the domains of
each client in their normal setting before entering the program. Another entrance criteria that the
client must do is take a swimming lesson course before hand, so the individual already knows the
technique to swim. This program will go further into swimming and so the client must feel safe
and comfortable in the water.

Exit Criteria:

Upon exiting this program, the client should be able to improve in the sections of the
domains listed in their chart before entering the program. The CTRS should take quarter notes on
the clients evaluation and program evaluations. These notes are used to make adaptations or
adjustments in order to increase their domains needed. An example would be if you have a client

with autism spectrum disorder who is having trouble in their social interactions with others and
controlling their emotional control. Some criteria that should be presented at the end of this
program are: to use breathing techniques to control their emotions, be able to initiate
conversation 50% better than when entering the program, be able to express to say what is
upsetting them to others, and so on. Each individual is unique and so the program should be
designed to increase the domains in which the client needs help in or improvement on.

Safety Considerations (Client and Environmental Risks):

There are several different safety considerations that need to be considered by the CTRS,
staff, and lifeguards. There are several different environmental risk that needs to address. Firstly,
if the pool facility is outdoors, they need to watch the weather. No one enters the pool if there is
thunder and lightning. If there is bad weather, then they need to follow the bad weather
procedures. Some procedures are: Waiting 30 minutes outside of the pool from the last thundered
heard (if you hear thunder in 15 minutes again, then wait another additional 30 minutes),
everyone should take cover under the roof or building, and so on. Also the faculty that works in
this facility needs to inform the participants and check the weather in case of storms and colder
weather that is approaching and need to make the precautions on if they will close the facility or
postpone the sessions. Also the lifeguards should be present at all times when the clients or
participants are in the pool. Also, we should provide a safe environment to all individuals in this
program. To help provide a safe environment, we should provide the pool to be private to only
the clients and staff for the duration of the session.

Not only are their environmental risks but there are client risks that should be
consideration as well. Firstly, the temperature of the pool should be adjusted for the right
individuals. For individuals with arthritis, having the water warm, but not too hot, helps ease the
pain that they feel in their joints and muscles. Having the pool warm helps individuals with
Multiple Sclerosis as well. Each client is different and needs to be adjusted to their special needs.
Secondly, the lifeguards and CTRS needs to know water safety regulation and CPR. It is
important for the CTRS leader, assistants, and lifeguards to understand the safety of being in the
water. This helps keep the clients and the participants safe in the water. Also, we should have a
private session in which only the staff and the clients are able to be in the pool without others in
the pool.

Facility and Equipment Required:

The facility needs to provide a safe environment to all the clients and participants in this
program. The facility needs to provide a water lift. This lift is used for individuals that need
assistance to enter the pool or exit the pool. Also, these activities used in this program need to be
in the shallow end of the pool. This facility needs to provide the services that will assist the
clients and participants. They need to have the facility ADA approved to help all different
individuals with disability to enjoy this facility.
Depending on the activities provided in the program, there are different equipment
needed. Here are the following equipment that will be used in this program through the use of
different activities:

Water Lift
Life vest or life jacket

Floatation device
Sunscreen (if the pool is outside, the client needs to be protected by the sun)
Water shoes
Towels (when the client gets out of the pool)
Water weights
Water balls (This is used for when they play games in the pool)

Outcome Criteria (Expected change):

The expected change is to make the client and the participant to improve in their domains
that they need assistance in. For example, if the client has autism and is having difficulty in their
emotional regulations. Then at the end of the session, they need to be able to relax and be able to
use breathing techniques to help control their emotions during their daily lives. Another example
would be if that same individual had problems with their social interaction skills. The outcome
criteria that the client should show is in improvement in initiating conversations with other
individuals and so on. The CTRS need to investigate what the clients needs and goals are to be
able to improve them.

SESSION TITLE:
SESSION DESCRIPTION:

Floating with Ease

This activity helps the individual to learn to
release tension, stress, or anxiety that they are
feeling in their body. This activity will be
useful in their daily lives to help control their
emotions and anxiety.
This session will run for approximately one
hour. The client will be led by a CTRS
through this activity. They will start with
warm ups in the pool. After warm ups, they
will then be led into the activity. With the help
of the CTRS, the client will be lead to lay on
the water. They could use floatation devices
to help stabilize the individual to lay flat on
the water. The client needs to focus on their
breathing and to relax their body in the water.
The goal of this activity is the client to float

SESSION OBJECTIVES:

SESSION LIFE SKILLS:

SESSION TIME:

SESSION MATERIALS:

SESSION PROCESS:

without the help of a floatation device or with

the help of the CTRS. When the individual
starts to feel comfortable, the staff will slowly
start to leave the individual to float on their
own. The CTRS will play music to help the
individual to focus on a tempo to breathe in
and out.
Teaches the client to practice to relax
and release the tension, stress, and
anxiety from their body.
Teaches the client to control their
breathing to help regulate their
emotions.
Teaches them to float in water and
relax in the water.
This activity will help the client to relax
themselves in stressful situations. They could
use these breathing techniques to help control
their emotional in their daily lives. Some
groups of disabilities that will excel in this
activity are individuals with: anxiety, autism,
PTSD, and so on.
This session will last one hour. The first
fifteen minutes of this activity will be the
warm up activities. After the warm up
activities, the client will them try to float for
at least 30 minutes to relax their bodies and
focus on their breathing. After the activity, the
client will use 15 minutes to cool down and
finish the activity with a discussion on how
they felt.
Bathing Suits
Life jacket or life vest
Flotation device
Music (Calming music)
The CTRS or the staff members will be
following the directions to this activity. They
will led the warm arms by doing exercises of
stretches. After the stretches they need to have
the participant relax on the floatation device.
When they feel comfortable they start to
remove the floatation device and slowly hold
the participant in the water. They start to

SESSION CONTENT:

release the client as they start to focus on their

breathing and start to relax their body. The
CTRS will release them when they feel the
client is okay. If the client still needs
assistants then they should continue to
support them above the water. After the
activity the staff and CTRS will lower them
back to standing position and finish the
session will a discussion on how they felt.
This activity is to help the individual feel
relax and calm after each session. This
activity could be used in their daily lives to
help them to relieve stress, tension, and
anxiety that they may feel.