NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Laurie Jake, ATRA Communications Coordinator
Phone (480) 460-1525 or
Ann Huston, ATRA Executive Director
Phone: (703) 683-9420

ATRA is one of the U.S. Administration on Aging You Can! Campaign Partners

(Alexandria, VA) The American Therapeutic recreation Association (ATRA) is pleased to announce it has joined the Administration on Aging as a national organizational partner in it’s’ “You CAN!” campaign, part of Steps to a Healthier US. “You CAN” is an outreach program to increase the number of older adults who stay active and healthy. Through this program, the goal is to encourage older adults to improve their nutrition and increase their physical activity.

The You Can! outreach and awareness campaign aims to spread the word about the importance of healthier lifestyle choices and encourage older adults to make wise food choices and increase their physical activity. Educating older adults about the importance of making healthy choices is an important component, and ATRA is a natural choice of organizations to help make that goal a reality. According to the American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) Recreational therapy embraces a definition of "health" which includes not only the absence of "illness", but extends to enhancement of physical, cognitive, emotional, social and leisure development so individuals may participate fully and independently in chosen life pursuits.

To obtain more information about the You Can! Campaign; visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging website at: www.aoa.gov/youcan . For more information about ATRA or the field of recreational therapy, please contact Laurie Jake, CTRS, ATRA Communications Coordinator at (480) 460-1525 or the ATRA National Office at (703) 683-9420.

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The American Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA) was founded in 1984 to advance the profession of therapeutic recreation. ATRA is a non-profit, professional membership organization dedicating 100% of resources and efforts to promote therapeutic recreation professionals in health care and human service settings. For more information, please contact the ATRA National Office http://www.atra-tr.org/