Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants
Defining Ourselves as a Profession
Department
Diagnostics and Treatment Sciences
College
College of Health Professions
Date Range
2014-2015
Disciplines
Medicine and Health Sciences
Abstract
The ATRA Definition Task Force was an outcome of the strategic planning process completed by the 2012-2013 ATRA Board of Directors and implemented by the 2013-2014 Board of Directors. The members of the two boards considered feedback from a 2012 ATRA membership survey when developing the strategic plan. The survey asked past members and current members, In your opinion, how do you feel about ATRAs: Mission&.Vision&.Definition.Approximately 23% of current ATRA members and 19% of past ATRA members indicated they thought the current definition was ineffective or very ineffective. While the number of respondents who thought the ATRA definition of Therapeutic Recreation was ineffective was a minority, the Board of Directors, along with the strategic planning consultant, determined that the minority response was significant enough to warrant further investigation of the definition, thus the establishment of the ATRA Definition Task Force. ATRAs Board of Directors charged the task force to Develop an updated ATRA definition statement, including seeking input from the profession by October 1, 2014.The specific tasks to be completed are outlined below: 1. Review past ATRA definition statements, as well as others from related fields or sources, by March 1, 2014. 2. Develop two to three alternative definition statements for Board review by March 1, 2014. 3. Seek membership input on definition statements via News Bites or similar mechanism by October 1, 2014. 4. Evaluate membership response and provide summary report to Board by October 1, 2014. 5. Seek Board approval for updated definition statement by October 1, 2014. 6. Advertise updated definition statement to members and various audiences by October 1, 2014. This session presents the work completed by the task force including the survey results of three proposed definitions of Therapeutic Recreation and the recommendation of a definition of Therapeutic Recreation for the association. The Learning Objectives for the session are: Explain the process used to develop the recommendation of a definition of TR to the ATRA Board. Identify three resources used for information gathering for the TR definition recommendation. Identify two themes which emerged from members feedback regarding a definition of Therapeutic Recreation for ATRA.
Conference Name
American Therapeutic Recreation Annual Conference
Conference Location
Oklahoma City, OK
ScholarWorks Citation
Beck, Teresa, "Defining Ourselves as a Profession" (2015). Faculty Scholarly Dissemination Grants. 662.
https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/fsdg/662
