Therapeutic Recreation Month - Meet Kendra
What is your name and what is your position at Green Acres Foundation?
My name is Kendra and I work as a recreational therapist at Green Acres Foundation.
How long have you worked at Green Acres?
I have worked for the Foundation for 4 years
How would you describe the occupation of a recreation therapist to someone who has never heard of it?
The best way to summarize my job to someone who isn’t familiar with what a recreational therapist does: I work with seniors to provide therapy, through recreation and leisure activities. Providing meaningful and purposeful programs into my residents’ daily lives between social, cognitive, emotional and physical activities that I implement and run.
Why is recreation therapy important for seniors?
Recreation therapy is so important for seniors at any level of care. Recreation therapy keeps seniors active: physically, mentally, and emotionally. For most of us, our day to day lives are busy filled with family, hobbies, travel etc. For most of our senior population, these aspects of their lives have slowed down drastically. Recreational therapy enriches their lives, maintains physical wellbeing, and adds a sense of community and purpose to their lives.
What do you love most about your job?
I get to come to work every day and do my best to make others feel happy and excited in what may otherwise feel like a long and lonely day without recreation for some seniors. I get to use my creative side to create fun, new and exciting programs that my residents look forward to. Hearing, “we missed you Kendra!” is one of the best comments to hear. I get to laugh, and sometimes cry, with my seniors whom I spend most of my days with. You create special bonds with your people who become a huge part of your everyday life, and it’s more than just a job some days. I never grew up with grandparents around, so my life has come full circle and now I have 42 grandmas and grandpas to keep me on my toes!
Any activities that were successful or unique that you would like to share?
Successful programs have been plentiful! Some of my favourite programs that come to mind have been:
Tattoos & Booze: I don’t think we all have ever laughed as much as we did on this day! The seniors were decked out in temporary tattoos for a couple weeks. They had so much fun with it, and with their fun sense of humour, this led to some funny placements of these temporary tattoos!
Tim Hortons Drive Thru: I am very thankful for our maintenance man at the lodge. He has helped me with building some of my wild ideas. One of my favourites was the Tim Hortons Drive Thru wall he built for me. I hunted down a Tim Hortons hat, picked up some donuts and coffee and I brought the drive thru to the seniors. Most of my seniors hadn’t had a Tim Hortons donut and coffee in a very long time! It turned out to be a very nostalgic afternoon.
Science Experiments: I got to play Bill Nye the Science Gal for an afternoon of cool science experiments. This was a program the seniors were really into. Getting to watch how each experiment went, hearing all the “oohs and ahhs” over the exploding peptos in diet coke and exploding soap, this was overall a very successful program.
National Pi Day: a couple of years ago, I ran a fundraiser for the residents fund. If we raised a certain amount of money, we got to pie our site manager in the face for Pi Day. This was probably one of my more successful programs. I was fortunate enough to round up a handful of willing staff members for a pie eating contest where we had to finish our pie plate of whip cream the fastest with only our mouth, so you can imagine the mess that made on our faces! Afterwards we enjoyed fresh homemade pie for dessert.
There have been SO many programs like this that I’ve been lucky to try with my seniors.
Since February is Recreation Therapy Month, is there anything you would like to share or add to the conversation?
I often hear, “Oh, all you do is play games,” and there is just SO much more to recreation than meets the eye.
I found this excerpt online that resonated well with me, “recreation therapy is so much more than play. When people think about recreation they often navigate to fun and play. But recreation therapy is so much more than that. Recreation therapists are very high functioning health care professionals who are helping patients set goals and achieve those goals. We work as coaches and supporters alongside patients in their rehab journey. And we help patients come out as the best version of themselves at the end of the day. And although we use activities like recreation leisure that are often meaningful and enjoyable, we still find ways to have that therapeutic rehabilitative aspect in a way that’s just a bit unique.”
“You create special bonds with your people who become a huge part of your everyday life, and its more than just a job some days. I never grew up with grandparents around, so my life has come full circle and now I have 42 grandmas and grandpas to keep me on my toes! ”
