Recreation Therapist

Quick Facts

• Role: Recreation Therapist (Rehabilitation Care Services)
• Focus: Complex therapeutic recreation assessment and treatment as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Schedule: Tuesday–Friday, 7:30am–5:00pm; every other Saturday (8:00am–4:30pm)
• Telework/Virtual: Not available

Description

You will interpret and administer physicians’ recreation therapy consults/orders, assess patient needs, and provide therapeutic recreation and creative arts interventions for Veterans with severe and multiple disabilities. At the full performance level, you will recommend treatment objectives and goals, develop individualized treatment plans, coordinate interventions with other services, and adjust approaches based on clinical reasoning and patient progress. You will also teach independent living, social interaction, coping, and mobility skills, and maintain required clinical documentation.

Responsibilities

• Interpret and administer recreation therapy consults/orders; schedule treatment and integrate recreation/creative arts with other therapies
• Develop treatment plans and deliver interventions such as sensory integration, ambulation support, emotional stress reduction, community re-entry, and reality orientation
• Teach independent living skills, social interaction skills, adjustment/coping skills, and pre-vocational or work adjustment skills
• Provide community training for power wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, and other mobility devices; support aquatic therapy techniques, adaptive sports, and community transportation planning and safety
• Interview Veterans with severe and/or multiple diagnoses using unconventional approaches to devise effective methods and procedures
• Assess the need for and ability to use adaptive equipment and assistive technology in community settings (including ADL aides and mobility devices)
• Administer, score, and/or interpret creative, leisure, and motor skills assessments
• Evaluate mental, emotional, social, and physical capabilities to determine recreation therapy needs
• Develop therapeutic programs for a wide range of disabilities and conditions (e.g., psychiatric diagnoses, dementia, neuromuscular disorders, orthopedic conditions, amputation, paralysis, spinal cord injury, head injury, respiratory disorders, chronic cardiovascular disease, visual impairment, and multiple diagnoses)
• Administer and interpret mental and physical assessments and guide recreation therapy assistants
• Serve as a core member of an interdisciplinary team to support total health care delivery and continuity of care
• Coordinate interventions with other services to build appropriate patient treatment programs
• Prepare initial, progress, and discharge notes according to service policy
• Perform regular assessments and leisure diagnostic evaluations and adjust treatments with the interdisciplinary team/physician
• Select, adapt, and independently modify recreation modalities to meet rehabilitation goals
• Lead or support programs such as Physical Fitness Reactivation, Community Reintegration, Leisure Education and Skill Development, Student Education Programs, Sports Athletic Program, Whole Health/Wellness, and Quality Management

Requirements

Conditions of employment

• U.S. citizenship
• Selective Service Registration (for males born after 12/31/1959)
• Proficiency in written and spoken English
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Complete online onboarding and pre-employment requirements (including I-9)
• Pass a pre-employment physical examination
• Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program
• Complete all application requirements in the announcement
• Valid driver’s license and safe driving record
• Required 1- or 2-year trial period (public interest evaluation)

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher with a major in therapeutic recreation/recreation & leisure with therapeutic recreation emphasis approved by NCTRC, or any bachelor’s degree plus CTRS certification approved by NCTRC
• Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialist (CTRS) certification by NCTRC (temporary up to two years may be available under limited conditions)
• Maintain required NCTRC registration/certification to remain in the occupation

Benefits

A federal career offers a comprehensive benefits package for employees and eligible family members. Exact benefits depend on position type and scheduling; eligibility requirements apply.