an inTeRlink feature article
4-21-96

On Staying Up-to-Date
David R. Austin, Ph.D., CTRS, FALS
Indiana University

What follows are some thoughts on recreation therapy for your review and possible reaction.

It is critical for RT's to remain competent in their knowledge and skills related to service delivery. Many recreation therapy practitioners make some attempt to keep their skills sharp and their knowledge current so that they may deliver the hightest quality in clinical services. These professionals become certified with NCTRC. They belong to ATRA and/or NTRS. They regularly attend state, regional and national conferences. They maintain a professional library which contains recent books and issues of The Annual in TR and/or TRJ. And, from time to time, they may check out Web sites for the latest information on recreation therapy.

While thousands of RT's make a concerted effort to keep up their skills and knowledge base, many of our colleagues who call themselves "professionals" do not do the things they need to do in order to remain current with their field. For example, while there are somewhere around 35,000 practicing RT's, only about 13,000 are nationally certified through NCTRC. Certification, of course, assures only a minimal standard for practice, which these practitioners do not maintain.

Of the 13,000 CTRS's, how many are members of their national professional societies? We know that many are not involved. ATRA, our largest society, has a professional membership of around 3,000 (and another 1,000 student members). NTRS has even fewer members. It is clear that many who term themselves to be professionals are not members of our professional societies.

How many professionals attend at least one state conference each year? How many attend regional or national conferences? While figures are not available for all conferences, we know that the largest conferences usually attract less than 1,000 participants. ATRA's Annual Conference runs somewhere over 800 participants. The Midwest TR Symposium usually has had less than 1,000 registered. It seems that many of the 35,000 RT's in the USA do not choose to attend professional meetings on a regular basis.

For those RT's who are not receiving materials from professional societies or who are not attending professional meetings, how do they keep up with the latest information from their profession? One might assume that they obtain books and journals and read them. It is doubtful, however, that these individuals are avid readers. To begin, how would they access literature? If they are not members of professional societies, it is unlikely that they are receiving information to make them aware of possible publications. Even those who are active often have to admit that their personal professional libraries are not as complete as they might be.

Are those RT professionals who visit WWW sites professionally active as reflected by NCTRC certification, membership in professional societies, attendance at professional meetings, and reading of professional literature? My guess is that it is exactly those who are the most professionally active that get on the Web. I believe Web users are some of our most active professionals.

In sum, many RT's do not strive to remain proficient practitioners. This is too bad for them as they do not continue to grow as professionals. But, more importantly, it is a shame because their clients do not receive the type of service delivery that might be expected to be provided by a true professional who stays current in his or her professional practice.

Do you share my thoughts regarding the professional involvement, or lack thereof, of may recreation therapists? If not, why not? If so, what can we do to help our colleagues realize the necessity to maintain and develop their professional proficiency?

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