Describes the camping experience at Camp Rainbow (Arkansas), specifically designed for children with cancer and their siblings. Discusses the emotional impact of childhood cancer on patients, parents, and siblings, and suggests positive outcomes of camp participation. Includes eight references. (SV)

Used Bandura's theory of self-efficacy as a basis for designing a therapeutic recreation intervention (cross-country skiing) for an adolescent girl with severe depression and oppositional defiant disorder in a long-term residential treatment facility. The intervention facilitated increased self- confidence and helped her discover positive ways to…

This study sought to determine if a specific therapeutic recreation intervention had a positive impact on the perceived leisure freedom of institutionalized mental patients. The intervention was a Christmas program involving any patients who desired to perform. Seven subjects who comprised the experimental group volunteered to participate in the…

Compared effectiveness of aerobic and nonaerobic exercise in treatment of clinical depression in women. Forty women with a depressive disorder were randomly assigned to eight-week running (aerobic), weight-lifting (nonaerobic), or wait-list control condition. Both exercise conditions significantly reduced depression; exercise conditions appeared…

Studies reveal that potential health values exist in use of pets in the rehabilitation process. Animal therapy can be a salutary form of rehabilitation if the program is organized, supervised, and implemented in a professional manner. (JD)

Camp Releaf, a weekend camp in North Carolina, uses therapeutic recreation to help children in grades K-8 develop positive coping skills for dealing with the recent death of a family member. The camp's therapeutic activities are described. Sidebars outline the nature of grief in different age groups and suggestions for working with grieving…

Examined the extent to which schools were utilizing therapeutic recreation as a related service. Surveys of recreation therapists indicated they were employed by public school systems, primarily worked with students with emotional and behavioral disabilities or multiple disabilities in self-contained classrooms, mainly provided leisure education,…

Reviews the major approaches used by social scientists to measure daily experiences, including interval-contingent, signal- contingent, and event-contingent methods. Examples of how these methods have been used in therapeutic recreation and leisure research are provided. The unique challenges and issues of measuring the daily experiences of…

Presents a rationale for using single-subject research designs to examine the effects of therapeutic recreation (TR), offering a description of single-subject research designs, examining research requirements, explaining data analysis through visual inspection, presenting examples of single-subject research designs, and concluding that this…

Discusses skills and competencies needed by wilderness therapy workers, who require more than outdoor skills to promote change in adolescents with behavior problems. Skills include technical skills (outdoor competencies), soft skills (interpersonal helping skills), and advanced skills (psychotherapy and counseling knowledge). The paper discusses:…

Youth recreation programming increasingly emphasizes developing resilience. Youth programmers could benefit from adopting therapeutic recreation (TR) practices. Theories of TR practice, and specific skills developed in TR professionals, can be integral to effective youth programming. Virginia's Fairfax County Department of Community Recreation…

Describes the development and validation of a self-report instrument for measuring resiliency in youth for recreation and other social services, noting that the instrument is not yet ready for use under all conditions and that while use of structural equation modeling removes some subjectivity, results of this type of analysis are still left to…

This paper explores findings from the fields of neuropsychology and art therapy as they relate to treating patients with dementia. It explains the biological, physical, and psychological manifestations of dementia, and current treatment modalities. Art therapy has been shown to be beneficial to patients with dementia. Unfortunately, it is the rare…

The purpose of this study was to examine the long-term effects of sport participation on the basketball skills and physical self-concept of adolescents with conduct disorders (CD). Participants were 24 adolescent males with CD, divided equally into three groups: (a) interestablishment basketball (IEBB), (b) integrated scholastic basketball (ISBB),…

Based on a needs assessment survey (66 responses from 101 nursing home activity coordinators), a recreation manual and training program was developed and tested with 25 coordinators/recreation staff. The 14 who completed evaluations increased their understanding of such topics as depression; goals of nursing home recreation programs; motivation of…