Senior Recreation Programmes Analysis

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If one is young, exuberant, and full of energy, he/she rarely thinks about the way they are going to live after retirement. Through all their lives people dream of having more time to have some rest and when they get a lot of leisure time at their The thing is that people feel that they lost some meaning in their life as they retire and don’t contribute to the society anymore

Moreover, the modern life is so hectic and eventful that people sometimes forget to care about senior people unless it is their grandparents. Fortunately, there exist senior recreation programmes that provide a vast range of activities for senior citizens ranging from various lectures, special events, concerts and the like. This helps senior citizen to live a life full of events that provides a feeling of belonging to them. What’s more important, such programmes not only cater for people with various interests, they sometimes provide medical support and meet other needs.

Senior Recreation Programmes make an invaluable contribution into the community. However, alongside their immense help to senior people, it should comply with rules and responsibilities. To effectively lead such programmes a practitioner should have certain skills and competencies. In addition, it should be stressed that, like any job, these programmes entail taking on responsibility.

Usually, the main duty of a practitioner is “to organize and direct participants, schedule the use of facilities, keep records of equipment use, and ensure that recreation facilities and equipment are used properly, to lead classes and provide instruction in a recreational activity” (Edginton, Hudson, and School 341).

First, a practitioner should follow the main rule of recreation programmes: “to satisfy leisure and social needs of senior adults, to provide an environment where members feel positive self-worth through acceptance by others, belonging, recognition, contribution, and achievement” (Edginton, Hudson, and School 316). A practitioner is the one who provides leadership with senior adults, usually in the groups, and also participates in activities. These activities may include different games, sport activities, dancing, reading, various lectures.

Second, a practitioner should be able to manage different aspects of the programmes, such as “fundraising; marketing; financial management; volunteer management; communications and program planning” (Edginton, Hudson, and School 306). Moreover, a practitioner should always be ready to continuous improvement and development. Working in such a specific setting it is necessary to use verbal and non-verbal activities. It is also important to encourage senior people to take part in the activities provided, to stay calm and poise in case of unexpected or unusual reaction, to maintain social interaction within the group.

In addition, the duty of a practitioner is to consult with senior adults in his/her group to decide upon this or that kind of activity, i.e. assess the needs and demands, to prevent any unexpected consequences. Besides, a practitioner should clearly establish the rules that should not be complicated and could be easily changed if necessary.

A practitioner should provide a number of different activities. It should be stressed that in some activities the level of participants’ abilities may vary, which poses a special challenge (Edginton, Hudson, and School 306). That is why it is important to take into account all the factors of the activities that could hamper their conduct. “In terms of group dynamics and leadership theory, it is important to recognize the need for different leadership styles in different situations” (Edginton, Hudson, and School 307).

In some situations it is advised to give the control over certain activity fully to participants. On the other hand, some groups would require practitioner’s full attention to ensure the safety of the participants (Edginton, Hudson, and School 305). In other words, every activity demands the maintenance of the balance of these two extremes, i.e. democratic allocation of roles.

However, despite the fact that a practitioner is in charge, it doesn’t mean that he/she should be in the centre of attention in both literal and figurative meaning. As it has already been mentioned, the role of a practitioner is to give senior people a feeling of content with life. On the other hand, standing in the centre of a circle of participants, a practitioner will have to turn his/her back to some people, which is not advisable.

It is noteworthy that any practitioner of senior recreation programmes should meet his/her responsibilities. Any practitioner should be able to provide any kind of help required by a senior citizen. Sometimes a hug or a hand shake can perform miracles and improve emotional state of a person.

Another duty of a practitioner is to plan, organize, and attract funds for various programmes and activities. Besides, a practitioner should closely stick to moral and ethical norms of behavior as it is very important when working with vulnerable social groups as senior people. “The ethically sensitive recreation services practitioner must become knowledgeable about the client and his or her family situation” (Edginton, Hudson, and School 305). A practitioner should express enthusiasm and positive emotions while performing some activities.

In conclusion, I would like to stress that any kind of recreation services play a very important role in the society as they foster and facilitate the improvement of the quality of life of people. Recreation services are time- , money- and effort-consuming activities and require a vast range of skills and competencies on the part of the practitioners. But from my perspective, they are worth all the efforts.

Works Cited

Edginton, Christopher R., Hudson, Susan D., Scholl, Kathleen G. Leadership for Recreation, Parks, and Leisure Services. Champaign: Sagamore Publishing, 2005.

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Senior Recreation Programmes Analysis

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