Therapeutic Recreation Paper - Essay Example

Statements like “I was treated like an object or my needs were not addressed with care” have become an agonizing music to my ears, wishing that something be done about all this. It is my belief that medical care and most importantly therapeutic recreation should embrace care giving in the service they give in order to live a more positive impact. The perception and view that patients or clients are ‘diagnostic label hung on an illness’ as Okeefe puts it, rather than an individual in need of recovering, growing and developing to me is intolerable.

This perception is that many doctors and other professionals in the health care industry treat clients as objects; this leads to a casual relationship between clients and healthcare facilities leaving the clients unsatisfied. It is this notion that the financial, profits and research objectives are prioritized over care giving. This for instance has led to the development of mistrust between patients and health care providers as the former continues to experience personal biases and mistreatment in the services he or she is receiving.

Personally, I have had quite a share of unpleasant experiences where I have been objectified in the past by being taken from one hospital room to the next, being treated impolitely and not being given considerations to what my needs are among others. Therefore, the trends that emanate form this article by O’keefe are appealing deductions and suggestions about care giving and therapeutic recreation. For the reason that therapeutic is a sub field in the medical field, recent trends have indicated that the field is continually drifting from its initial premises that it had to medical fundamentals and basis.

This has deprived therapeutic recreation that is meant to help people having problems coping with the environment, themselves and others of the care they deserve. The article by O’Keefe has helped me learn that the field of therapeutic recreation is not what used to be and, for this reason, it should be changed back to what it was and even better. For this to happen, proper leadership devoid of personal interests and promotion is necessary to steer this field back to the right direction by formulating proper polices and regulations.

Another trend that is presented in the article by O’Keefe and that I notice and identify with is the central idea of care giving. Care is stressed throughout the article and leaves the impression and emphasis of the author about the subject. As I have mention briefly above, the idea that care should be central in the leadership and provision of therapeutic recreation. Health care providers should exercise care when providing their services because it leads to a positive development of the client and the relationship involved.

Be it in terms of assessing, evaluating, or administering treatment, it is essential to exercise care and concern to patients in order to improve the situations they are for the better. There are a few things that I have learned in the course of reading the article by O’Keefe. First, I have learnt more on the different types of care that should be included in therapeutic recreation leadership and practice. In addition, the care has been divided into four phases that I conclude will be of significant