Recreation Therapist - Whole Health

Summary

This position is located within Primary Care at the Saint James CBOC. This position will be located temporarily in St. James, MO until our new facility in Rolla, MO becomes operational; projected March 1st, 2027.

Duties

The Recreation Therapist is responsible for providing coordinated, compassionate, and comprehensive quality care including mental health and extended care services. The care to veterans is provided in a timely, accessible, and cost-effective manner. The Recreation Therapist is responsible for ensuring compliance with internal and external regulatory authorities. Duties may include but are not limited to: Functions as a professional and technical advisor to the therapists, assistants, other allied health care professionals, program directors and managers throughout the medical center/facility. Ensures treatment plans developed promote the goals of the program in which each Veteran is participating. Develops and implements recreation therapy programs. Keeps abreast of current scientific, technological, theoretical and treatment modality changes, as well as management theory relating to the provision of recreation therapy/whole health. Responsible for managing and triaging consults. Participates in Medical team meetings. Serves on committees or teams as assigned. Maintains RT Fund-control point and general post accounts as an approving official, as specified in policy. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education: A bachelor's degree or higher, from an accredited college or university, with a major in therapeutic recreation or recreation/leisure, with an option and/or emphasis in therapeutic recreation. The degree must be approved by the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification (NCTRC); OR, (b) A bachelor's degree or higher in any field from an accredited college or university and must be a certified therapeutic recreation specialist (CTRS). The degree must be approved by the NCTRC. If hired under this education, the certification cannot be waived. Certification: Applicants must be certified in recreation therapy as a CTRS by the NCTRC. If hired under paragraph 4b(1)(b), certification cannot be waived. May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: (a) Experience. In addition to meeting the basic requirements, completion of two years of progressively complex experience, which includes one year equivalent to the next lower grade directly related to the position being filled. AND, (b) Certification. Additional certification in a specialty treatment area in recreation therapy, such as, but not limited to: Physical Medicine/Rehabilitation, Geriatrics, Developmental Disabilities, Behavioral Health, Community Inclusion Services, Aquatic Exercise Therapy/Aquatic Therapy, Adapted Sports, Assisted Technology, Social Skills, etc., or in a directly related field such as, but not limited to: acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, dementia, dialectical behavioral therapy, gambling disorder, motivational interviewing, and/or wellness recovery action plan facilitator. (c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: i. Knowledge of best practice and evidence-based recreation therapy across 10 multiple areas of practice. ii. Ability to perform clinical services and balance organizational responsibilities while developing and implementing effective strategies with great autonomy, at a level compatible with the critical necessity for accuracy and completion. iii. Ability to adapt assessment tools and treatment to the complexity of the diagnosis or disability and demonstrate the clinical reasoning necessary to identify the need for further in- depth specific assessment. iv. Skill in developing, implementing, and modifying recreation therapy treatment plans in response to changing medical, physical, mental, psychological and/or psychosocial conditions, as well as comorbidities. v. Ability to provide clinical guidance using the advanced knowledge of best practice and evidence-based recreation therapy implementation across multiple areas of practice. vi. Knowledge of how recreation therapy impacts revenue resource allocation, as it relates to complex diagnosis, treatment, and diagnostic coding. (d) Assignment. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higherlevel duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty), range of variety, and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At this level, recreation therapists use independent judgment of clinical information to administer specialized, complex, and extensive recreation therapy treatment theories, techniques, and evaluation methodologies in the provision of care to a diverse patient population with varying diagnoses, functional impairments, and cultural backgrounds. They also provide clinical practice guidance for other recreation therapy staff. Individuals in this assignment engage in a high level of decisionmaking for independent care. With great autonomy, they employ specialty recreation therapy treatment modalities requiring cutting edge, sophisticated and complex skills and apply clinical expertise to a full range of patient populations. They apply advanced clinical skills to address: sensory motor, including sensory integration; neuromuscular and motor cognitive integration and cognitive components; and psychosocial skills and psychological components. The individuals in this assignment serve as the sole recreation therapist member of a multidisciplinary or specialty care treatment team. They mentor therapists who are at the full performance level or below and may coordinate clinical training programs, to include student supervision, administration and oversight, assignments, and evaluations. They may evaluate current research and coordinate or support research projects to conduct evidence-based initiatives. They assist in quality assurance efforts and strategic planning for recreation therapy programs. Preferred Experience: Teaching or facilitating Tai Chi, yoga, movement, mindfulness, stress management, or other well-being classes in a group setting Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-12.

Education

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.