Therapeutic Recreation: A Practical Approach

For over 35 years, Therapeutic Recreation: A Practical Approach has provided an authoritative and engaging introduction to the field of therapeutic recreation. The Fifth Edition of Carter and Van Andel’s well-regarded text extends this tradition of excellence, equipping a new generation of students with the theoretical foundations and practical methods they need to become successful practitioners. The authors present the fundamentals of recreational therapy practice from the perspective of a 21st-century health and human service profession: emphasizing evidenced-based practices and documented outcomes, supporting individual and community assets, promoting fiscal responsibility, and utilizing a strengths-based approach that focuses on an individual’s capacities when developing a strategy to improve health status, quality of life, and functional abilities. Updates throughout reflect recent scholarship, revised standards and operational definitions, evidence-based literature to support interventions, and global health concerns. The critical component of documentation has been added to discussions of the APIE-D process, while chapters on neurodevelopmental disorders and behavioral and mental health issues incorporate the terminology and organization of the DSM-5. The latest edition also features expanded treatment of social issues and the adult-onset, chronic, and lifelong illnesses and disabilities associated with aging.