American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA)

Overview:

Profession(s): Recreational Therapy
Member Type(s): Recreation Therapists, Therapeutic Recreation Specialists
Scope: National - United States
Formed: 1984
Address: 1414 Prince Street, Suite 204, Alexandria, VA, 22314, USA
Phone: (703) 683-9420
Fax: (703) 683-9431
Email: national@atra-tr.org
Website: www.atra-tr.org

Description:

The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) is the largest, national membership organization representing the interests and needs of recreational therapists. Recreational therapists are health care providers using recreational therapy interventions for improved functioning of individuals with illness or disabling conditions. ATRA was incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1984 as a non-profit, grassroots organization in response to growing concern about the dramatic changes in the health care industry.

Mission/Aims:

To serve as a member driven association that collectively supports the recreational therapy profession.

To be the premiere professional membership association representing recreational therapists, consumers and stakeholders.

Principal Activities:

Educational opportunities including Mid Year and Annual Conferences, the ATRA Academy and Legislative Forums.

Legislative and Regulatory Advocacy actively promoting the profession on the national and state level. Activities include work being done under the State Initiatives program.

Standards and Regulatory Advocacy actively promoting and advocating for the profession to JCAHO, CARF, HCFA, and other healthcare related consortium's and groups.

Member Benefits:

Discounts available to members on conference registration fees and hotel fees for educational events.

Treatment Network groups available for members to network in areas of specialty.

Professional Publications and resources offered at a reduced rate to members. Included in the numerous publications available are the Standards of Practice Guide and Standards of Practice Self Assessment, Annual in Therapeutic Recreation and the Competency Assessment Guide.

Annual in Therapeutic Recreation: our annual referred journal provides members with access to state of the art articles on evidence-based practice, research, programmatic and philosophical articles by leading practitioners and scholars.

Newsletter published six times per year containing timely information about the profession.

Marketing and Educational efforts directed to Case Managers and other Allied Health professionals as well as access to relevant publications from these sources.

Credit Card Service available to members who qualify based on standard credit ratings. The APR is comparable if not better than most major credit cards available on the market.

Training/Licensing/Certification:

Educational opportunities including Mid Year and Annual Conferences, the ATRA Academy and Legislative Forums.