Recreational Therapist Chairs the CARF Board of Trustees for 2004

After serving one year as chair-elect of the 53 member CARF Board of Trustees, ATRA member Joanne Finegan, M.S.A., CTRS, will chair the board for the 2004 term. Finegan joined the CARF board in 1997 as a representative of the American Therapeutic Recreation Association. She is the chief executive officer of ReMed, a post-acute brain injury rehabilitation provider with locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio.

As ATRA’s CARF Liaison, Joanne has provided numerous education sessions at Annual and Mid-Year conferences, as well as serving as a presenter for the ATRA Academy and writing many newsletter articles to keep ATRA members informed of any regulatory issues that may affect recreational therapists.

Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, the accrediting body is now known as CARF. CARF establishes customer-focused standards to help providers measure and improve the quality, value, and outcomes of their services. At present, CARF has accredited more than 3,700 organizations in the United States, Canada, and Sweden in the areas of adult day services, assisted living, behavioral health, employment and community services, and medical rehabilitation. Since 1988, ATRA has maintained sponsoring membership with the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). CARF identifies recreational therapy as a key component to the inpatient rehabilitation standards.

ATRA President Melinda Conway Callahan traveled to Tucson for the induction ceremony and affirmed, “We are both excited and proud of this recognition of Joanne's obvious leadership abilities. She has certainly brought a great deal of recognition to our profession through her accomplishments.”

You can read more about Joanne on the CARF website, http://www.carf.org/consumer.aspx?content=content/About/News/news39.htm