Healthcare Professionals
This page provides some key areas of note specifically of interest for healthcare professionals. This includes the broad range of services from psychology & psychiatry, to nurses, many kinds of therapists, etc.
If you work in the healthcare industry, this page provides some quick pointers about research information on the effects of role-playing games, and potential uses of RPGs to help your clients achieve their therapeutic goals.
The research is from a broad range of disciplines, including bio-psycho-social
approaches.
Using relevant evidence-based and theory-based approaches, guided by various professional disciplines' methodologies and drawing upon 30+ years of research on the various forms of role-playing games as an intervention modality to achieve clients' specific therapeutic goals.
Rationale for Therapeutic Leisure Services
Based on Therapeutic Recreation methodologies and concepts:
..."every human being needs, wants, and deserves leisure. Leisure presents opportunities to try new behaviors, experience mastery, learn new skills, meet new people, deepen existing relationships, and develop a clearer sense of self. Leisure provides the context in which people can learn, interact, express individualism, and self-actualize" (Kelly, 1996)In the preceding paragraph, swap "leisure" with "role-playing games", and the statements are epitomized by this recreational activity known as a role-playing gaming.
Role-Playing Games are an Exceptional Modality for Therapeutic Recreation Benefits
Role-playing games are an exceptional modality for meeting the above goals, matches well with the TR Leisure Ability Model (Stumbo, 2009), and really ideal for participants to excel at using and development of:
- Improved self-efficacy
- Intrinsic motivation
- Internal locus of control
- Personal causality
- Choice
- Optimal experiences.
Here are some research summary pages for specific disciplines:
- Psychiatry: http://www.rpgresearch.com/documents/primary/list/sorted-by-discipline/psychiatry
- Psychology: http://www.rpgresearch.com/documents/primary/list/sorted-by-discipline/psychology
- Sociology: http://www.rpgresearch.com/documents/primary/list/sorted-by-discipline/sociology
- Recreation: Therapy: http://www.rpgresearch.com/documents/primary/list/sorted-by-discipline/tr-rt
References
Kelly, J.R. (1996), Leisure (3rd ed.). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Stumbo, N., J., Peterson, C., (2009), Therapeutic Recreation Program Design, Principles and Procedures (5th ed.). San Francisco: Pearson.
