The Pavilion

When deciding to look into a therapeutic recreation service I had many choices. After researching around I found The Pavilion Behavioral Health System. It fulfilled many of the types within therapeutic recreation and that is what attracted me to it. It is a rehabilitation center for those with mental illnesses, as well as there is a school for those with developmental disabilities. The Pavilion offers distinct, highly structured inpatient and partial hospitalization programs for the treatment of alcohol, drug, and psychiatric problems.

The Pavilion Behavioral Health System, is located in Champaign, IL on 809 W. Church street. The Pavilion Behavioral Health System is owned and operated by a subsidiary of Universal Health Services, Inc., one of the nation's leading hospital management companies. According to their website, pavilionhospital.com, “the Pavilion offers comprehensive care to youth, adults, and their families. Located in a quiet residential setting, the Pavilion provides a unique environment ensuring security and confidentiality.” A patient arriving at The Pavilion receives a professional intake assessment, directed by a physician. After the patient's needs are assessed, a treatment plan is recommended. This is the reason that the pavilion exists; it is a place for people to get help with serious mental illnesses.

For the Pavilion, there are two different departments that you can be employed at. One is the actual behavioral center where the types of employment are psychiatric nurses, a recreational therapist, chemical dependency case managers, and the program coordinator. As well, they also have nutritionists, psychiatrists, and other medical psychiatric specialists that may be needed for specific treatment of patients. The treatment team consists of physician specialists certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and counselors who are certified in chemical dependency treatment.

The other option is if you were to be in the educational department. The Pavilion Foundation School is designed to meet the educational needs of the residents. In order for the school to run smoothly they have a certified special education teacher in every classroom as well, they have a demand for school social workers, behavior interventionists, adaptive physical education teacher and speech pathologists.

There are many new programs at the Pavilion and one of them is The New Choice Center for Addictions Recovery, which started in March 2008. It offers immediate access to a full continuum of care including residential treatment, medical detoxification and stabilization of medical and psychiatric problems in an inpatient setting, day programming in a partial hospitalization format, dual diagnosis treatment and access to specialized outpatient services. Those services include intensive outpatient services, individual counseling, family counseling and continuing care. They also are expanding their youth services inpatient program to serve up to 28 years of age. Currently it treats children and adolescents from ages 4-17. Another new expansion is happening in the geriatric services, which is now serving 14 patients.

Therapeutic programming includes individual, group and family therapy, activity and recreational therapy, psycho educational groups and medical intervention. The Pavilion Foundation is a place where people can go to seek help and feel safe to express their problems and know that they will be kept confidential. The Pavilion has many resources available to many different types of residents that enable them to recover. With the added recreation in their treatment processes, they feel that all of their programs are set up for people to have success.

Synopsis: I think that after looking into the therapeutic recreation service, I personally would not be able to work in this leisure delivery system. It takes people who are very patient and who are able to keep their emotions out of their work. I feel that many people that work in these fields can find themselves getting attached to their resident’s recovery stories because they want to help them and get caught up in the process. However, this can definitely be a pro for certain people, because they are able to keep their emotions out of the recovery process and are simply able to aid and treat without confliction. Also, I think that you have to be able to devote a lot of time to a career in this service because whether you work at the mental rehabilitation center or the school for children with disabilities, it takes a lot of time and effort and the days are long. As well the days are more exhausting than a regular school because these children require a lot more attention and guidance. I think the pavilion foundation fits perfectly into the leisure delivery system because in the rehabilitation center they have programs and activities that use recreation as a method of treatment. As well in the pavilion school, there are certain activities, for example modified gym exercises that allow the students to make recreation apart of their lives in a location where it is safe and controlled for their abilities. Overall, it is a very important part of the leisure delivery system. 

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