INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / FEBRUARY 20, 1990

 

 

 

Job prospects good in
therapeutic recreation

Recreation is more than just
playtime after a long day at the of-
fice. It is a way to learn new skills
and gain self-confidence,
knowledge and independence.

Douglas College in New
Westminster offers a two-year pro-
gram that trains students in
therapeutic recreation. It’s the only
program of its kind in B.C.

Therapeutic recreation is a rela-
tively new field and one that is
growing, says program co-or-
dinator Daniel McDonald. Career
opportunities for graduates are
varied, and many graduates are
“snapped up right after they com-
plete the program.”

The College’s two-year
Therapeutic Recreation Diploma
Program trains students to provide
a wide range of leisure services for
children, adolescents and adults
who have special needs, be it physi-
cal, emotional, social or mental. The
program, available on a full-time or
part-time basis, combines class-
room learning and work ex-
perience. Students learn to plan,
implement and evaluate individual
and group therapeutic recreational
activities.

Job opportunities exist in
rehabilitation recreation, leisure
education and recreation. In
rehabilitation recreation, students
find work in health agencies like
hospitals, nursing homes, and in-
stitutions.

The majority of graduates find
work with older adults in inter-
mediate, extended care or private
facilities. “The main focus is to
maintain the quality of life for older
adults and contribute to maintain-
ing the skills people had when they
came (to the institution),” says Mc-
Donald.

Graduates fill leisure education

roles with health agencies,
municipal recreation agencies, and
human services agencies, including
group homes, developmental day
care centres, alternate schools and
treatment facilities. People trained
in therapeutic recreation also work
at community aquatic and fitness
centres, making the facilities and
programs accessible to clients.

“Our aim isn’t just to provide a
diversion,” says Tricia Rachfall, a
second-year student in the pro-
gram. Therapeutic recreation can be
applied at a therapy level or in
leisure education, she says. “We
help individuals gain self-
knowledge and independence and
increase their personal participa-
tion level through leisure activity.”

Rachfall says that working with
people in a therapy-type situation
is rewarding because the clients are
“doing something they enjoy and
doing something they choose to do.
When people choose to do some-
thing, it brings out the best in
them,” she explains.

McDonald says recreation
therapy is important because not all
people’s needs can be met through
work. “Our basic goal is for people
to satisfy their needs in their recrea-
tion time,” he says. “And because
so many of these people are dis-
abled, so much of their time is
recreation.”

McDonald adds that the
Therapeutic Recreation Program at-
tracts students who are “very
caring individuals, who have good
listening skills and the ability to es-
tablish good relationships.” Stu-
dents in the program come from a
broad range of backgrounds. Most
have graduated from high school
and have worked directly with
people for a few years.

“The students in this program

West
publishes
poetry

Douglas College instructor
David West has recently published
his fifth book, a collection of poetry
entitled Picking Up the Pieces (The
Caitlin Press).

West teaches Communications
at Douglas College and English
Literature at Kwantlen College.
West has lived and taught in B.C.,
Ontario, and New Brunswick, and
is completing his Ph.D. in
Canadian Literature. A former
poetry editor of The Fiddlehead
West is currently an editorial assis-
tant for Event.

The new poetry collection fea-
tures two long poems, “At the Food
Bank,” and “Transcanada”, both
originally broadcast on CBC Radio.

West says of the book, “Part of
it is personal; but part of it is
definitely political. I’ve developed
a social, as well as a personal, con-
science over the last decade. It
shows in these poems.” West, a
political activist, says he will be put-
ting his beliefs into practice again.
He plans to seek a nomination as a
civic New Democrat candidate for
the Vancouver School Board.

As a poet, West is perhaps
best known for his top-selling
Franklin and McClintock, a series
of documentary-style poems
about the two Northwest Passage

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all have something in common,”
adds Rachfall. “They want to make
other people’s lives richer.”

Bruce Devereux, who
graduated from the Therapeutic
Recreation Program in 1986, is now
the provincial co-ordinator for the

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