Archive for the ‘Therapeutic Recreation’ Category

Taking the Message of Therapeutic Recreation Home

Posted on: July 11th, 2013 by BrevardBlogger No Comments

Happy National Therapeutic Recreation Week from Brevard Medical Equipment!  We have been discussing the ways that therapeutic recreation helps people with illnesses, disabilities, and other conditions to develop and use their leisure in ways that enhance their health, functional abilities, independence, and quality of life. Therapeutic Rec week is the second week of July each year.

Whether you or someone in your life has a disability or not, this is a good time to talk about how exercise and leisure can benefit all of us. Here are some tips on getting started in the right direction no matter age or fitness level.

1. Assess yourself

Do this honestly and fearlessly. Take a good look at yourself and your habits. Write down how often you exercise and what you eat for a week or longer. Set your baseline by seeing how long you can walk without getting winded. How is your upper body and lower body strength? How does your body look without clothes and without “sucking it in?”

2. Access your risks

What are your risk factors? What types of diseases run in the family? Which ones are lifestyle-based and which are genetic? What health issues have you had in the past or are dealing with now?  Now start with a plan to lower these risks; what will it take?  Do you have any physical restrictions? What activities can you do even with these restrictions? What have you tried in the past, but never succeeded? How can you succeed this time?

3. Pick one small healthy-lifestyle goal to start

You may not want to commit to never eating chocolate again or running marathons.  Start small. Write the goal and steps down, and keep it handy o you see it. It may be eating a better diet and only eating chocolate on the weekends. It may be walking all the way to that certain place a distance from your house each way without stopping more than 2 times. Keep it realistic!

Share your fitness goals and plans with Brevard Medical Equipment. Ask us about what equipment and supplies can help you to reach those goals. You can do it!

Happy Therapeutic Recreation Week: Get Active – Part 1

Posted on: July 9th, 2013 by BrevardBlogger No Comments

There may not be a card for it, but Happy National Therapeutic Recreation Week from Brevard Medical Equipment!  Therapeutic Rec week is the second week of July each year when the National Therapeutic Recreation Society (NTRS) works to raise awareness of therapeutic recreation.  They do this in order to help people with illnesses, disabilities, and other conditions develop and use their leisure in ways that enhance their health, functional abilities, independence, and quality of life.

The NTRS wants you to get involved so here are a few suggestions our team at Brevard Medical Equipment has gathered:

  1. Are you civic minded? Ask to speak before your town board or city council about accessible recreation needs. Are trails and parks accessible? What about equipment in children’s parks? Talk to local disability groups about their needs and wants. Are there any big projects that they could use      backing on?
  2. Ask your local leaders to proclaim “National Therapeutic Recreation Week.” The press will be great for the cause and an easy way to inform a lot of      people quickly.
  3. Work with local disability groups to plan a community disability awareness event. These are often held at local malls or churches.
  4. Present to your co-workers, civic group or church group on the benefits of therapeutic recreation. Make the event bigger by inviting equipment      vendors to demonstrate adaptive recreation equipment. There are many products out there including hand bikes and upper body exercisers.
  5. If  you enjoy sports, try organizing a coaches’ seminar on recreational inclusion.  There are many benefits of sports for youth and adults with disabilities. Many sports already have adapted versions including basketball, soccer, tennis and volleyball.   Check out some of the amazing performances of the athletes at the 2012 Paralympics in London. The net great Olympian could be from your neighborhood.

You don’t have to be an Olympian to benefit from some of the great equipment at Brevard Medical Equipment. See us for everything from dressing aids to wound care treatment supplies.