Recreational therapy students’ perspectives of a class time fieldwork experience for adolescents engaged in health-risk behaviors

Recreational therapists work in a broad field with numerous service settings for individuals with disabilities. Students' learning may be enhanced by providing opportunities during class time to implement services for more unfamiliar populations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate students' reflections from a class time fieldwork experience (CTFE) in a recreational therapy (RT) class with adolescents who engage in health-risk behaviors. A retrospective, qualitative content analysis of 111 RT students' perspectives was used for this study, and two main themes emerged: exposure to an unfamiliar community population and identifying personal biases and judgments. Implications are identified for RT educators and practitioners to apply these findings to future CTFEs, internships, and employment opportunities.