ABSTRACT
According to David Austin (2004) therapeutic recreation (TR) began to develop as a profession following the Second World War. Professional organizations began appearing in the 1950s. One of them, the American Therapeutic Recreation Association, defines TR as follows:
‘Recreational Therapy’ means a treatment service designed to restore, remediate and rehabilitate a person's level of functioning and independence in life activities, to promote health and wellness as well as reduce or eliminate the activity limitations and restrictions to participation in life situations caused by an illness or disabling condition.
(July 2009; https://atra-online.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=12. Accessed 20 August 2013) The link between TR and leisure is obvious in the title, even though this definition portrays the first as encompassing all of life's activities (all three domains) as well as, more broadly, health and wellness.