Date of Award

2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Keywords

Sickle Cell Disease, Support Groups, Education

Area of Concentration

General Studies

Abstract

Therapeutic recreation summer camp programs can benefit individuals undergoing treatment for chronic and/or life-threatening illness in a number of ways, as they provide a break for caregivers, interaction with other campers facing similar difficulties, and an opportunity for physical activity. While current therapeutic recreation programs are beneficial, there are ways in which the staff/volunteers of therapeutic recreation summer camps can be better educated regarding the physical, psychological, social, and economic pain in order to best support campers with sickle cell disease (SCD). In this thesis I explore the social construction of sickle cell disease as a racial disease in the United States as well as provide an evaluation of how therapeutic recreation summer camps can benefit individuals with sickle cell. I also present examples of how the staff/volunteers at therapeutic recreation summer camps can be better trained to work with SCD campers. Through my review of the literature on pain in relationship to SCD, I suggest that the experience of sickle cell campers at therapeutic recreation summer camps depends in part on the training of the camp’s staff/volunteers. This training could be improved with further education regarding the physical, psychological, social, and economic pain of sickle cell disease.

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