Five Benefits of Recreation Therapy
Recreation therapy uses a wide range of activities to help with specific issues your family member may be having. These types of therapies can include music, art, games of all types, pet therapy and so much more. Recreation therapy can assist with a huge array of difficulties, without causing added stress for your family member. In fact, if anything, it can greatly reduce the stress she may be experiencing already.
Increases Self-esteem and Assists with Treating Mood Issues
Recreation therapy is far more fun than work, which is a great way to build on success. That, in turn builds self-esteem. This combination also can help with mood issues, like depression and anxiety, especially if those are caused by frustration at how difficult some skills are to learn.
Improves Socialization Skills
Having fun with people builds bonds. And if your family member is engaging in recreation therapy, that means she’s able to build bonds with the other people involved in her recreational therapy sessions. Those socialization skills are transferrable to other situations, too.
Boosts Cognition and Problem-solving
Stimulating games and activities, like music and art, do more than just help with moods and social skills. They can also help to boost problem-solving skills and cognition. That’s important when you’re trying to ensure that your family member is able to solve simple life problems on a daily basis.
Helps with Strength, Eye/Hand Coordination and More
As all of these other benefits are building upon each other over time, your family member is also doing more, and possibly using muscles in new ways and to do new activities. That can help to build strength, especially if she’s engaging in activities that she enjoys. Eye/hand coordination may also improve, especially with more physical games and play.
Builds on Skills Your Family Member Needs
The most important part of recreation therapy is that it builds on skills that your family member needs in order to successfully meet her goals. She may be trying to develop independence, and recreational therapy can help her to gather the skills that she needs to fully meet that goal. They’re also skills that she can use across all areas of her life. Recreation therapy may even help your family member to break through plateaus with some of her goals. Trying something new in a fun way can help her to make progress that might have seemed impossible to her and to you before.
If you are considering therapy programs in Carmel, IN, please call the caring staff at RSI Cares. Serving Greater Indianapolis Area. Call for Immediate Info & Assistance: 317-471-0750.
As a practicing Registered Nurse, Etelka was keenly aware of a void in quality patient care that could be provided in the home. She embarked upon a journey to develop a home health care agency that would exceed all expectations and become a trusted partner to physicians and patients.
A Distinguished Career From Nurse to Director of Nursing to President of Home Services Unlimited
Etelka’s distinguished career followed a logical progression to her position as President of Home Services Unlimited. She graduated as a nurse practitioner with a Bachelor of Nursing (RN) in 1972 from Meshgorya University in the Ukraine, close to where she lived with her family. She married her husband Phil in 1973 and decided in 1977 that they would relocate to the United States to be closer to family and to come to this land of opportunity. With an eagerness to continue her budding career, Etelka sat for and passed her Boards in the U.S. in 1979.
A Love and Talent for Working with the Elderly
Etelka began her nursing career in the U.S. at Colonial Crest, now part of Golden Living, where shewasthe In-service Coordinator, the Director of Training and Education and Director of Nursing, a position she occupied for several years.
With a group of partners, she co-founded Adept Corporation, which operated group homes for the mentally challenged. The business was successful and in 1996, Etelka sold her share to return to her roots, caring for the elderly.
In January of 1997, Etelka opened Home Services Unlimited as a fully licensed business to provide home health care. In her quest to learn to do better for her patients, she had already obtained a Masters in Healthcare Administration (MHA) in May of 1990 from the College of St. Francis. As President of Home Services Unlimited, Inc., Etelka guides the trusted, experienced care model Home Services Unlimited uses to continue providing excellent home health care.
Giving Back to the Community of Indianapolis
Volunteering for community services is a high priority for Etelka. Her memberships include the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, Executive Women in Health Care and the Indiana Association for Home and Hospice Care, where she is a member of the Board of Directors.
Etelka has also served on the Board of Directors with Hooverwood Home, a highly regarded geriatric facility, since 1997 and as the President for 2005-2006. Through her community work, she has received several awards and accolades, including the Nora McFarland award in 2002, from the Indiana Association of Home and Hospice Care.
Etelka was honored as a “Health Care Hero” by the Indianapolis Business Journal. The issue can be read online here:
http://mags.ibj.com/activemagazine/welcome/html/ibjhch.html.
After clicking on the link, then click on the image of the issue’s front page. After that, you can browse through the issue or click in a box near the top of your internet browser to adjust the page to 17, which is where Etelka’s article appears.
- NOTICE: Indiana Direct Service Workforce Investment Grant - January 30, 2023
- Take a Break and Let Respite Care Aides Help Out - November 10, 2021
- Let Residential Habilitation Services Bring Independence to Your Child With Down Syndrome - October 20, 2021