Naap Article,

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In-Service for Activity Professionals

 

 

Activity Directors

 

Troy L. Lott, ADPC, State President, Activity Coordinators of Tennessee

 

An Activity Director can be rewarding, challenging and often time consuming. This profession allows us to enhance the lives of residents who live in long term care facilities. Activity Directors must be familiar with all state and federal regulations as well as ongoing changes and updates. We are responsible for scheduling religious, emotional, social and psychosocial activities on a daily basis. To many of our residents, we become a sounding board, personal shopper, visitor and dinner companion, as well as their adopted family and only connection to the outside world. This article is being written to clarify one of the biggest misconceptions about the training of Activity Directors in this state and many others. This misconception is about the difference in qualification and certification.

 

Some people think that they are certified after they complete their State Basic Course for Activity Directors. In fact, only two states in the United States have a State Certification Program for Activity Directors. When an Activity Director completes their state basic course that is approved by that state, they are qualified to be an Activity Director in that state. If you leave your state, moving to another state, you need to see what their state requirements are. There are only two ways that an Activity Director can be truly certified:

 

1) Go to college, complete the required course of studies for Therapeutic Recreation and then pass the certification test or:

 

2) Complete one of the certification tracks through the National Certification Council for Activity Professionals. There are three tracks for Activity Assistant Certified and four tracks for Activity Director Certified. The first three tracks for Activity Director Certified requires college:

 

A) Track One - a Bachelor Degree.

 

Track Two - an Associate Degree.

 

C) Track Three - 60 hours of college.

 

D) Track Four - this being the track that most people receive certification with, this track requires:

 

1) Successful completion of an approved 90-hour NAAP/NCCAP Basic Activity Course.

 

2) Successful completion of an approved 90-hour NAAP/NCCAP Advanced Management Course

 

3) 12 college credits, (3 credits must be English composition) plus 1 other required coursework area

 

4) 6,000 hours (3 years) of experience in Activities within the past 5 years.

 

5) 30 clock hours of Continuing Education (found in the Body of Knowledge) within the past 5 years. After application and acceptance, the Activity Director is truly certified. National Certification is accepted in any state without further classes or test. To maintain certification the person must re-certify every two years. Sending in the re-certification application and certificates for the required 30 hours of Continuing Education does this.

 

Unless a person is truly certified by one of the two methods of certification explained above, using the letters CTRS or ADC is unlawful.

 

I hope that this clears up the misconception. For further information on certification, get in touch with the National Certification Council For Activity Professionals by looking on their web site at www.nccap.org or by calling 1-757-552-0653.

[Guest Tinki]

Texas is one, but what is the other state that certifies their AD's. Certified Activity Directors in Texas use the AD/TXC after their name. Does anyone know what other state?

 

Karen