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Negative symptoms and cognitive dysfunction are two symptomatic categories of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) that significantly impair functioning. Treatment for adults with SSDs continues to focus primarily on medication adherence and positive symptom reduction, despite the fact that medication has little impact on negative and cognitive symptoms within this population and, thus, little impact on improving community functioning. This two-part series presents an intervention developed to increase community participation in adults with SSDs. This article presents a comprehensive description of the functional impairments experienced by this population, framed within the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. This article will also apply Self-Determination Theory to this population of adults with SSDs as a foundation to help this population increase community participation and successful integration.

This study examined the relationship of aquatic activity to positive and negative emotion in individuals with a severe mental illness (SMI). Individuals with SMI have been found to experience decreased positive emotions and higher negative emotions as compared to controls. It was hypothesized that aquatic activity participation would be associated with greater positive emotion and lower negative emotion post participation. Eighteen participants with a severe mental illness were recruited from a community mental health center. The study employed a pre-post design with a structured aquatic activity designed for moderate physical exertion. Participants demonstrated statistically significant increase in positive emotion and decrease in negative emotion pre to post activity. The findings of this study provide support for the potential effect of aquatic activities in psychiatric rehabilitation.

This study evaluated a shallow-water intervention to reduce pain among women age 61 to 81 with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis. The study used a randomized-replicated single-case two-condition crossover design to determine which condition was more effective at relieving pain. One condition was functional movements without the use of a stationary pole; the other condition, identical movements with the pole. Data were collected through repeated pain measures, pre-test-post-test measures, and retrospective pre-test post-test measures. Pain data analysis with Microsoft Excel® ExPRT 2.0 AB program generated pre- and post-crossover charts. Visual analysis findings were substantiated with sensitivity analyses of retrospective pre-test and post-test data, showing no significance between the two conditions (p ≤ 0.05). Results indicated use of a pole might not be more effective than the movement program itself. For the individual and recreation therapist, this finding might translate to cost effective recreation therapy interventions addressing clinical outcomes as a result from engagement with an aquatic RT movement program.

Positive psychology is a burgeoning field that has great application in the field of recreation therapy. It provides a context for the application of recreation therapy interventions and offers an examination of clients in a manner that is holistic and focused on the strengths (rather than the deficits) of the individual. In this article, the roots of positive psychology are discussed and defined, the three pillars of positive psychology are described, and finally, the relationship between positive psychology and recreation therapy is delineated. Positive psychology offers the field of recreation therapy with a firm foundation for theoretical growth and practice.