Activities Therapy Assistant

Lake Charles Memorial Health System; Lake Charles (LA); On-site; USD 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Lake Charles Memorial Health System is seeking an Activities Therapy Assistant to conduct group activities focused on patient needs and therapy goals. You will interview patients and families to develop leisure and developmental histories and maintain regular contact to monitor responses to services.

You will liaise with the care team and community agencies to tailor interventions and document progress. The role emphasizes emotional and cognitive support in a safe, therapeutic setting, with

Qualifications

• Interacts with patients, families and staff to deliver therapeutic activities.
• Maintains wellbeing through supportive patient interactions.
• Communicates and documents patient progress within the care team.

Responsibilities

• Interviews patients, families, and others to obtain leisure and developmental histories.
• Maintains regular contact with each patient to monitor responses to services and identify problems.
• Obtains information from family members about past responses to treatment and reports to the treatment team.
• Liaises with local community agencies to develop interventions based on patient needs.
• Participates in treatment planning and documents case records.
• Communicates abnormal emotional or cognitive data to staff.
• Delivers emotional and/or cognitive patient care in a therapeutic and safe manner.

Skills

Interpersonal communication

Empathy

Crisis response

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Bachelor's degree preferred (psych, social services)

CPR certification

Job description

Description Of Position

The Activities Therapy Assistant conducts group activities that are therapeutic and focused on patient needs.

Supervision

Reports directly to Activities Therapy Coordinator.

Responsibilities and Duties

• Interviews patients, their families, & others to obtain leisure & developmental histories.
• Maintains regular contact with each assigned patient to monitor responses to services & identify problem areas.
• When appropriate, obtains information from family members about patient in regard to past response to treatment or problem areas in work, custody, school, & leisure activities; reports significant information & recommendations to treatment team members.
• When appropriate, liaises with local community agencies to develop appropriate interventions based on patient needs.
• Participates in the patients’ treatment planning & documents case records.
• Communicates abnormal variances of emotional &/or cognitive data (tearful, hallucinating, etc) to appropriate staff.
• Provides emotional &/or cognitive patient care in an appropriate, therapeutic & safe manner.

The above statements are only meant to be a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by incumbents of this job. The incumbents may be requested to perform job-related tasks other than those stated in this description.

Education and Work Experience

• Minimal High School Diploma/GED; Prefer Bachelor's Degree (psych, social service field, etc.)
• Minimal 2+ Years Experience working with functionally challenged individuals if they do not meet the Educational Preference
• Crisis Response Training, CPR
• Ability to effectively communicate with patient, family, peers and medical personnel.
• Requires emotional stability and resilience.
• Must be adaptable to change and demonstrate foresight.
• Ability to take initiative, be decisive, and project a professional demeanor.

Physical Demands/Work Environment

• Work requires a variety of physical activities including sitting, standing and walking.
• Bending, stooping, and lifting is minimal.
• The work environment may be physically confining.
• Visual acuity required for a variety of activities.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.