Challenges of Client Assessment in Therapeutic Recreation
Client assessment in therapeutic recreation can be defined as the act of finding and
gathering information about a client and then using this information to help place them into the
appropriate therapeutic recreation programs that they need in order to be successful when it
comes to achieving their leisure goals. Client assessment often leads to identifying a problem(s)
and then from there building an intervention and treatment plan to help implement future goals
that match the clients intended leisure outcomes. The information gathered also provides a way
for the therapeutic recreation team to monitor the progression or relapses the clients may have.
Client assessment is also
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Even though all of these outcomes may not be perceptibly different from
each other, the extremes between them are quite distinct and range from individually tailored to a
broad spectrum relevant to numerous clients. As a result of this there are visible pros and cons to
each side of this continuum and the choice of outcome greatly affects how that outcome will be
assessed.
Identified Outcomes
Client-generated goals are outcomes that are of the highest importance to the client and
the assessment is generally performed in a non-standard way, meaning it is performed through
rating scales that are prepared with the client or through clinical check-ins. The upside to this
outcome is that it is sensitive to what the client anticipates that they need and it allows for a
continuous collaboration and examination of the progress of their goals. The disadvantage of
client-generated goals is the lack of standardized assessment which makes it harder for therapists
to make comparisons across all clients. "Client-generated goals, therefore, cannot determine
whether or not the client is experiencing more or less impairment compared to peers, or whether
or not the client is making therapeutic gains at a rate similar to those of peers" (Barker, 2013,
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Lowering symptoms as well as monitoring those symptoms is a substantial goal of
therapeutic recreation interventions. The process of evaluating symptoms can be performed by
using standardized approaches such as through symptom checklists or through clinical check-ins
which are performed at the beginning of a meeting. Symptom checklists are great to use because
they have normative information on a large number of people, which helps with client
comparisons. "The major challenge with using symptoms as an outcome is that symptoms vary
from client to client, which complicates comparisons across diverse treatment populations"
(Barker, 2013, p. 6). As a result of this symptom checklists should generally be used in settings
that focus on a specific disorder.
Improving functioning in the areas of academic performance and social relationships is
another important but challenging goal in therapeutic recreation interventions. Assessments that
center around these important life domains have an advantage because they are applicable
...health of a patient and a follow up check at the GP’s may be required.
...what may or may not need to be changed. The charts describe a residents ADL’s, how long they can or cannot stand, and any other treatment goal progress.
I have not worked with clients in a formal counseling setting. However, I know the importance of clients taking assessments to gain a better understanding. For example, if the client is having difficulty selecting a career, I would have the client take a career assessment to determine client strengths. Then, the client can use the evaluation to research jobs that would allow the client to use their strengths.
to one another, while others can be opposite/different, just like in the book To Kill
requiered to determine treatment. Lab tests or imaging is often requiered as well. It’s chronic,
Therefor, it was necessary to assess the differences between my client, Precious and I. Precious’ age, race, culture, living environment, support, experiences, parental relationships, level of education, accesses to resources, financial support, and family dynamic are all different from mine. The following two paragraphs describe facets of her life that differ from my own.
The only limitation to the study is that it failed to mention any costs related to obtaining the services. And it did not mention any demographic variables with respect to race, average age, and levels of income and mental health status (at intake) of the population they served. According to Cummings (2009) at intake, clients suffered a greatly with their activities of daily living and were recently hospitalized for psychiatric issues. It would be unfair to assume that the current study took into account for any of these issues. The study was limited in revealing this pertinent information. Greater knowledge of the patient during intake may provide for greater accuracy in determining the correct agency to direct the prospective client. Other than that, the program appears very thorough in their service delivery.
Morrison, E., & Love, C. (2003). An Evaluation of Four Programs for the Management of
What will be the goals of counseling and what intervention strategies are used to accomplish those goals?
“The physician performs a variety of tests to evaluate mental, emotional and language functions, movement and coordination, balance, vision, and the other four senses (Diagnosing
... because the participants are challenging and resistant. There was no strategy conducted to counteract them. The study looked at each participants demographic and substance use in each evaluation, and it also analyzed the percentage of participants who returned for one or more appointments after the evaluation. The study found that more participants, who were in the MI group, came for at least one more session after their assessment. The study documented that 59.3% of participants who received MI came to their next appointment, as opposed to only 29.2% in the standard evaluation group. Participants in the MI group continued to come back at a higher rate than those that received the standard evaluation after the first appointment. This suggests that MI is more effective in engaging clients at the assessment time, and possibly after that when continued in treatment.
... to less healthy patients through negative cues. All could increase patients' dissatisfaction (Braunsberger and Gates, 2002).
Assessment is the term counselors use for the evaluation methods counselors use to better understand the characteristics of people, places, and things. The purpose of assessment in counseling is to help better understand and provide information for both the counselor and client so the counselor can better help the client and plan and evaluate programs (Hays, 2013, p. 6). “In addition, it can be therapeutic and can help clients understand both their past and present attitudes and actions as well as their plans for the future. Thus, assessments serve a diagnostic use, help to evaluate client progress, and are useful to improve or promote client awareness, knowledge, and skills” (Hays, 2013, p. 6). An assessment should be part of the
O’Connor, Llewellyn-Thomas, & Flood. (2004). Modifying unwarranted variations in health care: Shared decision making using patient decision aids. Health Affairs (Millwood), 63-72.
In practice, there are other assessment tools such as….which I could have used but the CPA is a recommended National Standard Framework for Mental Health, introduced in 1991, to supply a framework for effective mental health care (DOH 1999; DOH 2008) and to safeguard all service users (SU) by appropriate assessment and review (Gamble, 2005). But it is time consuming, in practice and paperwork. Service users’ participation has been repeatedly disappointing; studies constantly report little awareness of the CPA policy (CPAA, 2006; McDermott, 1998).