Photo: Fashion Show photosTherapeutic Recreation promotes comprehensive healing

Taking recreation seriously can open up a whole new world to those who need it.

Sac State’s Therapeutic Recreation concentration is educating professionals who are making a difference in people’s lives by turning recreation into comprehensive therapy.

Therapeutic recreation traces its roots to the 1850s, when Florence Nightingale protested conditions in military hospitals. Nightingale said poor hospital settings could impair recovery and that recreational experiences could immensely improve patient conditions, the American Therapeutic Recreational Association says.

“Every nursing home, long-term care, mental health and correctional facility employs recreational therapists,” says Jennifer Piatt, professor and Therapeutic Recreation coordinator for the Department of Recreation, Parks and Tourism Administration in the College of Health and Human Services.

“Recreational therapists take a look at what a patient’s leisure interests are and put them on the path to participating in those activities again,” Piatt says.

“There are also leisure issues mentally ill patients may face,” she says. “Through an assessment, recreation therapists find out what’s limiting them from leading a high-quality life.”

Alumnus Rob Lucas works in a Sacramento County youth detention facility, running programs that allow the youths to have enriching experiences in their lives.

“We teach the kids a variety of coping skills, such as stress and anger management,” he says, along with skills they may have not been exposed to before, such as art and journal and poetry writing.

Lucas says the programs will pay dividends in the future.

“Eventually, we’re able to get them participating in activities that they’ve learned to enjoy,” he says. “They use it as a source of positive behavior to build on rather than using drugs or alcohol or engaging in gang behavior. I’m doing what I love to do.”

Therapeutic Recreation grad student Tina Malcolm found her calling amid a national tragedy.

“I used to be a fashion merchandiser in New York, but after 9-11 I took a hard look at my career and knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do,” Malcolm says.

Sac State helped her use her experience in the fashion industry to build on an idea for a self-esteem program for adults with developmental disabilities.

“I began work on a fashion show for the adults and named it ‘A Passion for Fashion,’” Malcolm says. “I began with a focus on personal hygiene, and from there we went through fashion magazines, where they decided what kind of styles they wanted to model.”

Malcolm worked with several outside sources to donate makeup, hairstyling services and clothing. The show, complete with 14 models, was a rousing success.

Like Lucas, Malcolm says therapeutic recreation is rewarding for the professional, as well as the patient.

“People with disabilities are the most wonderful people to work with. I am so lucky,” she says.

— Kim Nava