American ATRA Research Opportunity

American Therapeutic Recreation Association is calling on all Recreational Therapy educators, researchers, practitioners, and students to conduct rapid reviews and/or systematic reviews to determine the current state of evidence for Recreational Therapy modalities, interventions, and populations. This research is needed to strengthen the profession by contributing to evidence-based practices. 

The specific modalities/interventions and populations for this Call for Research are listed at the bottom of this email and were determined based on the highly utilized items within the 2019 ATRA Competencies Study.

If you are interested in participating in this Call for Research, please review the ‘ATRA Rapid Review and Systematic Review Guidelines’ and the complete the ATRA Intervention Research Registry Application Form. Additional information can be found on the ATRA Intervention Research Registry page on the ATRA website.

If you have any questions, please contact Heather Porter (heather.porter@temple.edu).

Activity-Specific Modalities/Interventions

1. Physical activity. This focus area can be further defined by type (e.g., aerobic), location (e.g., community-based), engagement type (e.g., group-based), or modality (e.g., hiking).
2. Games/Puzzles. This focus area can be further defined by type (e.g., electronic), location (e.g., inpatient physical rehabilitation), engagement type (e.g., individual gameplay), or modality (e.g., board games logic puzzles).
3. Creative Arts. This focus area can be further defined by type (e.g., music, art, dance, drama, writing), location (e.g., school-based), engagement type (e.g., group-based drama club), or modality (e.g., art journaling).
4. Cooperative/Team Building/Group Games. This focus area can be further defined by type (e.g., outdoor), location (e.g., inpatient psychiatric care), or modality (e.g., rock climbing 'New Games' cooperative play).

Non-Activity Specific Modalities/Interventions

1. Social Interaction/Connection/Support. This focus area can be further defined by type (e.g., in-person, virtual), types of relationships (e.g., reciprocal family), location (e.g., in the home, at school), or modality (e.g., support group).
2. Leisure Education/Leisure Counseling/Leisure Awareness/Leisure Adaptation. This focus area can be further defined as general or activity-specific (e.g., individualized leisure counseling related to individual interests, leisure education related to adaptive sports participation) or location (e.g., leisure awareness at community parks).
3. Relaxation/Stress Management. This focus can be further defined by type (e.g., chronic stress), time (e.g., when experiencing a highly stressful event in the community), or modality (e.g., visual imagery, a specific type of leisure activity for stress coping).
4. Community Integration/Re-integration/Inclusion/Transitioning. This focus area can be further defined by location (e.g., transitioning into community recreation) or specific activity (e.g., community reintegration using sports).

Diagnoses

1. DSM-5 diagnoses. This includes intellectual/developmental disabilities, substance-related diagnoses, and dementia.

Neurological Diagnoses. This includes diagnoses commonly referred to as physical disabilities, such as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Brain Injury, Cerebrovascular Accident, and Spinal Cord Injury.