For over a decade, Jamie Landeen, CTRS/L, has dedicated her career to improving the lives of patients through Recreational Therapy. As a Recreational Therapist, she plays a vital role in helping individuals regain their ability to engage in meaningful leisure activities, fostering physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual/meaningful well-being of individuals.
Landeen’s journey into Recreational Therapy, also known as Therapeutic Recreation, began in 2014, where she completed an internship at Mt. Ascutney Hospital and Health Center (MAHHC) then proceeded to take the National Exam for Certification through the National Council of Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC). From the very beginning, she was drawn to the collaborative atmosphere and the opportunity to help patients reconnect with the activities they love. “I love the patients, and knowing that I was working with patients to get them back into their leisure and recreational activities and just set a plan with them to get back in their leisure at home was very rewarding,” she said. She returned to MAHHC as a Recreational Therapist in 2019 following five years of similar work outside MAHHC. “I just can’t stop coming back,” she remarked.
Landeen’s role allows her to work closely with various disciplines at MAHHC, including Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, Nursing, and Case Management. This interdisciplinary collaboration ensures that each patient receives comprehensive care tailored to their unique needs.
Recreational therapy is about using variety of recreational and leisure-based activities to enhance patients’ physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and spiritual/meaningful well-being. Recreational Therapists aim to restore, remediate, or rehabilitate an individual’s level of functioning and independence through life activities. Landeen often co-treats patients with physical therapists, integrating therapeutic activities that align with mobility goals. For instance, a patient recovering from a fall might participate in Tai Chi for fall prevention and arthritis management, providing both exercise and confidence in movement.
No two days in recreational therapy are the same. Landeen’s mornings begin with reviewing patient charts and checking in on those who may have participated in evening therapeutic activities, such as Reiki. She then spends the day engaging with patients through individualized sessions, focusing on their personal interests and therapeutic goals.
Her interventions range from music and art therapy to board games, table games, exercises, adaptive recreation, leisure education and awareness, as well as leisure counseling. Landeen emphasized the importance of leisure education and awareness interventions in the Rehab setting, helping patients discover new hobbies or modify existing ones to fit their current abilities. For example, she may provide audiobook supplies to a patient who likes to read but has impaired vision. She also works with community programs and resources, helping connect patients to local support or activity groups that may aid them beyond their time at MAHHC.
Seasonal and themed activities, such as a hallway turkey trot scavenger hunt, bring an element of fun while reinforcing motor skills and social engagement. Gardening sessions, for example, not only provide joy but also help patients practice fine and gross motor skills, cognitive functioning, problem-solving, and more.
One of Landeen’s most memorable moments involved an 83-year-old stroke patient she met during her MAHHC internship. His wife had gifted him a Chromebook laptop, but he was initially hesitant to use it. Through patient guidance, she helped him learn to email and, eventually, video chat with his grandchildren across the country. “I feel like I may teach people new things and their quality of life totally changes,” she said. Seeing his face light up as he connected with family was a powerful reminder of the impact of recreational intervention.
In all, Landeen appreciates the flexibility and individualized nature of working in recreational therapy, ultimately helping people achieve needs that can positively impact them on an individual level. “Therapeutic recreation is about seeing the person before the diagnosis, right? And creating spaces where people of all ages and abilities can belong, explore, and thrive,” Landeen stated. “And a lot of the time, people will say, ‘Oh, you’re just doing activities,’ but I’ll let them know that it’s more than just activities: it’s advocacy, it’s inclusion, and it’s empowerment.”