While the majority of my followers are in the rec therapy field themselves, I have a lot who aren’t. As I’ve said, I want my page to be for everyone, a page where I can use my platform to educate! So that is what this post is going to be all about. I’m going to keep this one nice and short, making it not only easy to read but also easy to understand!

For some of you, even if you’re not in this field, you maybe this process to be one you know. There are many other fields that use a very similar process to help guide them as well, nursing being one of them.

In recreation therapy we have a 4 stage process that we are constantly using to help guide us in providing support. We call it the APIE process. The four stages you’ll find are, assessment, planning, implement and evaluation. So how do this help us? Let me break it down for you.

The APIE process is a cycle because you can find yourself starting and stopping in all four different areas. Just like us, the process we use is constantly moving! 

A

For assessment, every facility has their own. Some us tried, true and tested assessments that are known across the board, some mix different components of already established assessments and some start from scratch. We use these assessments to help us establish exactly what programs someone would fit into, what programs will provide them the most support in whatever it is they want to achieve. 

P

Planning is all about reflecting on the assessment, and other information we have gathered, to help establish goals and objectives. These goals and objectives allow us to plan out interventions, activities and programs that may already exist or that we need to create to provide the absolute best support possible.

This part, if it applies, will also include other the input of other professionals. Recreation therapists are often part of an intergenerational team, meaning they are one of my professions who are helping an individual to reach their goal. By working with occupational therapists, physiotherapists, nurses, and so on, we create a plan that allows us to work together to optimize the chance of being success!

I

Implement is the I, and this is the “do” stage in the process! This is where we we’ll start engaging individuals in programs and interventions that we planned out. This stage looks completely different for everyone because everything we are choosing to implement was specifically designed to help them achieve all of their goals and objectives. 

E

The evaluation stage is all about looking back at our initial assessments, plan and implementation to determine the results. Sometimes we may discover new circumstances that need to be addressed, other times we may determine that the individual has successfully achieved everything they wanted, and sometimes we find ourselves going right back to the drawing board. This stage is constantly running through our minds, working towards getting to a point where our evaluation shows us how successful everything was!

It is so important to note that each individual is involved in their own care each and every step of the way. Without their involvement in assessment, wouldn’t be able to determine what we need. Without their involved in the planning, we wouldn’t know what they want to work on and how much work they’re willing to put in. When it comes to the implementation stage, they need to be willing to put in the world. Finally, in regards to the evaluation, we need their input to determine if we have achieved our goals and interventions.