Therapeutic Recreation

Leisure time helps define who we are, gives life fullness, and keeps us healthy.  

A Recreational Therapist works with a patient on our Inpatient Rehabilitation Unit. 

Therapeutic recreation is an integral part of the total rehabilitation process. Certified Therapeutic Recreation Specialists (CTRS) work with patients and their families to create a healthy and active leisure lifestyle through one on one therapy, community integration, and adapted recreation. Recreational therapists utilize a wide range of activity and community based interventions and techniques to improve the physical, cognitive, emotional, social and leisure needs of their clients. Some examples of interventions we use are leisure independence via board and table games, adaptive outdoor recreation such as fishing and kayaking, hand cycling, yoga, community reintegration and a variety of other recreation-based group activities.  

At Michigan Medicine, therapeutic recreation is available for pediatric and adult patients in both hospital and outpatient settings.  Whether you’ve recently suffered a stroke or you manage a chronic condition such as cerebral palsy, therapeutic recreation at Michigan Medicine offers a wide variety of adaptive and inclusive recreation programs throughout our patients’ lifespans.  These programs are aimed at increasing a person’s ability to become independent in fun activities they enjoy, learn a new sport or simply meet new people. 

Listed below are some of the many activities provided by our therapeutic recreation program and UMAISE (University of Michigan Adaptive and Inclusive Sports Experience). 

Pediatric and Adult Programming                                                     

  • Wheelchair Basketball          
  • Sports Camp
  • Tree Climbing
  • Summer Enrichment Program
  • Outdoor Adventure Weekend
  • Talk Around Town
  • Martial Arts
  • Creative Coping
  • Kayaking (Adult and Peds)
  • Yoga (Adult and Peds)
  • Hand Cycling (Adult Only) 

For more information on the Therapeutic Recreation Program at Michigan Medicine, please contact [email protected]