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The following global ideas guide the design and delivery of this course:

Course content will be guided by research, empirical knowledge, and best practice. The following values and principles, consistent with professional standards, inform course content.

• Increasing knowledge and understanding of therapeutic recreation standards of practice equips professionals to successfully advocate for the profession and implement suitable programs within their scope of practice.

• Understanding the scope of practice for a recreation therapist and a recreation therapy assistant allows for improved communication, job functioning, and program efficacy. Understanding scope of practice equips the recreation therapist to provide guidance and structure to the recreation therapy assistant job tasks.

• Selecting, designing and implementing appropriate documentation methods are essential elements of the therapeutic recreation process as a means to properly record and communicate to clients, family members, staff, community, stakeholders, and other allied health professions.

• Utilizing a standardized system to gather client data and report client progress establishes legal and confidential records of care and ensures accountability among therapeutic recreation professionals.

• Recreation therapists utilize several assessment tools within the therapeutic recreation process, such as assessment summaries, DSM-5 criteria, the ICF, and RAI/MDS.

• Recreation therapists utilize several documentation techniques within the therapeutic recreation process, such as program protocols, individual program plans, progress notes (e.g. SOAP and DART notes), and client evaluation summaries.

• Understanding and applying standardized reporting methods using medical abbreviations, medical terminology, and classification systems (e.g. ICF, DSM-5) allows for more effective and efficient communication between therapeutic recreation practitioners, allied health professions, and regulatory bodies.