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Appropriate therapeutic recreation programs for community based consumers of mental health services

Lorna Moxham
Head, School of Nursing and Health Studies, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton QLD

Shane Pegg
Department of Tourism and Leisure Management, University of Queensland, QLD

Abstract

Over the last two decades in Australia, the deinstitutionalisation process, which began with the intent of moving consumers of mental health services from in-patient facilities and then seeking to integrate these same individuals into the community, has served to highlight a wide range of consumer needs that have remained largely unfulfilled throughout the process. One such need has been the provision of appropriate therapeutic recreation programs for the community-based consumers of the various state co-ordinated mental health services. This paper argues a case for a change in the approach through which professional staff provide and lead therapeutic recreation based programs, to enable participants to be empowered, rather than disempowered, through their involvement. Further, this paper contends that there is a need for health care staff, more generally, to accept the concept of such programs for the community-based consumers of various mental health services as a valued one.

Keywords

mental health, leadership, empowerment, therapeutic approach, recreation

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