Another topic that I don't know a lot about is therapeutic recreation and the Military. I first heard about recreation and the troops in my REC 150 class. I was very intruiged when they said that would could ultimately work on Military Bases all over the world. Being so stressed out with war and having the responsibility of shooting guns can really overwhelm a person. A lot of times soldiers get PTSD when they come back from fighting or even during their tour overseas. A normal person needs recreation to deal with daily stress, let alone a soldier carrying the freedom of our country on their backs. Another big factor to consider is wounded soldiers; a lot are hurt in the war and when they come back they are put in a Veteran hospital and don't know how to react because before they left they were normal. I did some research and found some good ideas for activities. It was more based on when they come home and a integration back into the community; that's the spin I took on it anyways. A repeating theme I saw was scavenger hunts, specifically with traumatic brain injury patients. There are several objectives and goals that scavenger hunts address; patients must strategize, make decisions, process information, and probelm solve. You could do week long scavenger hunts or picture scavenger hunts. I think this would be a good way to keep working on memory and keeping up with current events like having them find pictures that relate to their family, hobbies and interests. Having a task such as a week long scavenger hunt would give them something to look forward to each day and to pay attention to all of their surroundings.
Things to remember when working with TBI patients are fears, predispositions and how severe their condition is. Patients might also have anxiety of big crowds, heights, noises, etc. A lot of times the patients are also suffering depression so it's important to be supportive and encouraging for them. As a TRS you want to be comforting instead of trying to confront these fears because that will only damage a person more.
Depending on the scavenger hunt, this activity is very inexpensive. You can use a digital camera to keep record of everything you find and objects could be around the city, house or room. Scavenger hunts are a general activity that can be adaptive to any setting or population.
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