Therapeutic Activity Specialist

Duties and Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

• Provides day-to-day oversight of activities. Identifies times of needed patient engagement and facilitates activities on all units. May maintain schedule of psychoeducational groups.
• Documents weekly group topics and assists with program performance improvement measures and outcomes.
• Promotes client attendance and participation in groups and activities and documents participation.
• Assumes responsibility for awareness of individual treatment goals in collaboration with the patient and team to provide support as appropriate. Communicates relevant patient progress to team members to promote continuity of treatment information.
• Assumes responsibility for awareness of behavioral management plans for acute patients in cooperation with treatment team.
• Provides direct support to teach behavioral symptom management techniques and assists patients in adapting to and/or coping with internal and external stresses.
• Provides support to patients and families by maintaining communication between support person(s), patient and team.
• Provides practical help and side-by-side coaching and problems solving to help patients obtain necessities of daily living.
• Provides care to patients in a manner that considers safety, comfort, and the therapeutic environment.
• Manages behavioral crises including 1:1 observation, redirection, physical restraint, and team crisis interventions.
• May be required by entity as needed: Must have the ability to safely initiate and use physical-hold techniques to restrain a resisting individual in either standing, seated/kneeling, or floor restraint positions for up to 20 minutes in duration.

Common Expectations:

• Demonstrates knowledge of the principles of growth and development over the life span of the assigned patient population. Assesses and interprets patient age specific data and provides appropriate, age specific treatment. Provides direct patient care to assigned patient age group(s).
• Demonstrates commitment to patients, visitors, and staff by complying with all applicable safety regulations; learning the impact of medical errors and methodology that will lead to reduction of errors; reporting actual and potential errors, as well as hazardous conditions; identifying opportunities to standardize processes and "error proof" systems that will lead to increased safety, and participating in safety education programs and root cause analyses as required.
• Establishes and maintains positive therapeutic relationships with patients and maintains proficiency in principals of de-escalation.