Leisure Wellness and Education

1. Leisure Wellness and Education HPR 322 Chapter 14

2. Leisure Education is a paramount function of Leisure Programming • Individuals with disabilities face barriers (constraints) to leisure participation • Undeveloped leisure can be a primer for deviant behavior • Some people avoid leisure participation because they don’t understand what it is or the benefits • Having free time is not beneficial unless you know how to use it properly

3. Watching TV can have some benefits but heavy TV watching can have harmful effects: • Development of sedentary lifestyle that contributes to heart disease, obesity, hypertension, and other illnesses • Individual and community isolation • Development of violent behaviors via social learning theory • Decrease of quality time or meaningfulness in life

4. Individuals seek more meaningful leisure experiences • Desire to develop appropriate skills, knowledge, attitudes required for successful participation. • You can teach them leisure wellness skills

5. Leisure Wellness • Access to information • Decision Making • Clarify Leisure-related values • Traditional strategies • Instructional programs and services

6. Leisure Barriers • Attitudinal – ex. Must be athletically gifted to participate in physical fitness • Communicative – Agency must provide clear, accurate, and meaningful info about offerings. Individual must be able to send and receive messages • Consumptive – Purchasing “experiences which are “in vogue” but don’t match needs • Economic – Lack of discretionary funds and individuals associate “value” with “cost”

7. Barriers (cont’d) • Experiential – No experience so activity is avoided • Health - Illnesses and conditions may prevent participation physically, emotionally, socially – Adaptations necessary • Leisure Awareness – “Leisure Ethic’ – Lack knowledge of benefits, resources, skills • Physical Resource – Lack of facilities and overcrowding – National Parks are being “loved to death” - Facilities in communities “run down”

8. Barriers (cont’d) • Social Cultural – Attention must be given to needs based on diversity – racial, ethnic, social, economic, political, and cultural • Temporal – Not having enough time or quality time to pursue leisure interests • Work schedules, year around schools, flextime, four day work weeks require new approaches to address customer’s needs

9. Leisure Education • Developmental process through which individuals or groups of people increase their understanding of leisure and the relationships among leisure, lifestyle, and society (Mundy, 1998) • Develops • Skills that develop competencies • Knowledge of leisure experiences available (resources) • Experience increases confidence and desire to explore • Attitudes, Values, Appreciation – Positive perception of leisure

10. Components of Leisure Education • Leisure Appreciation • Self-Awareness • Decision-Making • Self-Determination • Leisure Activity Skills • Community Skills • Social Skills • Leisure Resources

11. Components represent Goals that may be achieved by clients through Leisure Education • Leisure Appreciation • Assess attitudes toward leisure and assist clients in becoming aware that leisure offers benefits • Self-Awareness • Clients examine their leisure lifestyle to become aware of leisure values, patterns, behaviors, barriers so they may make alterations

12. Decision-Making • Many individuals with disabilities have not had opportunities to engage in decision-making • Self-Determination • Being in control of the course a life takes • CTRS assists clients in identifying leisure preferences and assert themselves to achieve them

13. Leisure Activity Skills • Archery to Yoga – Individuals need a repertoire of activities and the skills to engage • Community Skills • Skills to participate in community life • Transportation, handling money/finances • Social Skills • Overcome deficits by • Modeling appropriate behaviors, role playing, providing opportunities, reinforcing positive skills, formal training

14. Leisure Resources • Information about possible community resources (places, programs, people) to meet their interests • Leisure Ed ranges from appreciation for leisure to obtaining concrete information about possible community leisure resources

15. Leisure Ed may take place in • Classes • Social Skills training groups • Community Reintegration programs • Group Counseling • Individual Counseling • Counseling is a means of Leisure Ed • CTRSs are Helping Professionals and must be able to communicate therapeutically

16. Leisure Ability Model • Overall purpose of Leisure Education • Assist participants in acquiring leisure-related knowledge and skills so participants can eventually gain an independent leisure lifestyle (Peterson and Stumbo, 2000) • This Leisure Education Model consists of four components

17. Leisure Awareness – Knowledge of leisure, self-awareness, leisure and play attitudes, and related participatory and decision-making skills • Social Interaction Skills – Dual, Small Group, and Large Group • Leisure Activity Skills – Traditional and Non-Traditional activities and skills • Leisure Resources – Activity opportunities, personal resources, family and home resources, and state and national resources

18. Leisure Lifestyle Center (LLC) • Dept of Recreation Management and Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse • Community-Based Leisure Education Program • Begins with individualized leisure assessment in which participants become aware of leisure and self • Participants learn different skills (e.g. decision-making, social skills, activity skills) • The goal is to help participants experience the benefits of leisure and develop a lifestyle • Main focus is to assist individuals with disabilities (pg 490)