Therapeutic Recreation is a holistic health care profession that utilizes recreation, leisure and other activity-based interventions to help support individuals with illnesses and/or disabling conditions overcome health barriers to improve and maximize health, physical function, social and emotional well being, and overall quality of life.
Using a collaborative approach Recreation Therapists follow a systematic process to improve, maintain or prevent decline in health. Leisure based treatments plans are purposeful, meaningful and based on individual strengths and values identified through assessment.
At Braemar we have a team of four who work seven days a week. We work hard to create a community within the building to make the residents who live here, feel at home. After all, we work in their home. The Recreation Department uses the DementiAbilty model when planning programs. We assess the needs, interests, skills and abilities of the residents and provide them with meaningful activity. We strive to keep the residents busy and happy. We provide group activities such as arts and crafts, sports, games, music, exercise groups, socials, bingo, and movies. Through DementiAbility we have found that smaller groups, foster better friendships among the residents themselves. We have also found that repetitive activities afford better participation. This is why we have changed our calendars to reflect more standardized weekly programs, such as baking every Thursday, bingo every Friday and much more. We offer musical entertainment, lunch and breakfast clubs, pub nights every Wednesday, and BBQs throughout the summer. The Recreation Department plans monthly outings so we can enjoy local restaurants, scenic drives, and attend community events such as the Belmore Maple Syrup Festival, go bowling or local shows. We offer a spiritual service every Tuesday, which covers most denominations, plus hymn sing and bible study on Sunday afternoons. We provide one to one support for residents through activities such as Music Therapy, Pet Therapy, manicures, sensory stimulation, friendly visits, and Montessori activities.