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Unit6. LEISURE AND FREE TIME IN PEOPLE WITH DEPENDENCE
Unit6. LEISURE AND FREE TIME IN PEOPLE WITH DEPENDENCE
LEISURE
AND FREE TIME PSYCHOSOCIAL ATTENTION AND SUPPORT
DEPENDENCY
Academic year 2023/2024
ÍNDICE
Pág.
3. Group dynamics 8
5.1. Game 11
5.2. Festivities 14
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1. LEISURE TIME IN PEOPLE WITH DEPENDENCE
All people need interaction with the
environment as a context of opportunities for
development. Through leisure, people take
advantage of their time for socialization and
obtain diverse, pleasant and enriching
experiences that allow them to acquire new
skills and strategies, both personal and social.
The technician caring for people in a situation of dependency must provide users
with the necessary resources related to their individual needs. They must facilitate
access to leisure activities, adapting them so that everyone can participate within the
framework of inclusion. They must also accompany them to improve the quality in
the use of their free time.
Busy time is considered to be the time dedicated to work and/or study and daily
obligations. The most common activities in which busy time is distributed can be:
• Work/study time: time dedicated to carry out professional and work tasks,
and to train in aspects related to one's work.
• Busy non-work time: time dedicated to obligations and needs.
- Social relationships: time dedicated to interact, build, expand and maintain one's
social network.
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Leisure can be defined as the person's
attitude aimed at enjoying free time while
carrying out some voluntary activity that is
pleasant and satisfying.
Leisure time is time dedicated to entertainment and fun. It cannot exist without free
time because there must be time outside of obligations, where one can develop.
Thus, free time is the context for developing leisure activities.
What characterizes leisure and distinguishes it from free time is the person's own
attitude, since he or she voluntarily carries out an activity with the purpose of having
fun, enjoying and obtaining a satisfactory personal experience.
• They are chosen freely and voluntarily by the person, they refer to his preferences.
Leisure causes multiple benefits at a personal, relational and community level such
as:
Leisure is an activity that allows you to transform monotony and routine and
provides benefits and opportunities on both at personal and social level,
influencing the improvement of people's quality of life.
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Leisure takes place during free time. It is an engine of well-being. It is not so
important what is done, but how it is done, since it must be a freely chosen activity
that is pleasant and satisfying. It is a preventive and educational resource with great
potential to improve the quality of life of people in a situation of dependency.
The work of professionals who work with people in a situation of dependency, such
as the TAPSD, is aimed at knowing and using leisure time as a tool to guarantee
multiple opportunities, offering individual and collective resources and activities for
the discovery of new capabilities, and stimulate personal and social development.
Joffre Dumazedier (1982) proposed the 3 "d" model, which relates how people use
their leisure time and the impact on their quality of life. For this author the most
important free time activities are:
• To rest.
• To have fun.
• To develop.
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This model distinguishes the level of leisure used by assessing its quality from more
to less:
• Training leisure: it represents a higher level of leisure that includes education, art
and culture to fully develop the person.
• Rest leisure: it is the leisure of free time. It is used to gain strength, without a
specific purpose, usually to relax.
There is a wide range of leisure and free time activities adapted to elderly people in a
situation of dependency, which offer all the necessary support to be able to fully
enjoy leisure, both in residential homes and senior centers and in associations and
entities.
In retirement, the change associated with leaving the productive world is linked to the
end of a stage in the person's life and all associated habits. The professional must
accompany and guide the elderly person in a situation of dependency through their
intervention, providing the highest possible quality to their leisure time.
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ACTIVE AGING
The World Health Organization defines active aging as the process of optimizing
opportunities for health, participation and security to improve the quality of life of
people as they age.
We must keep in mind that not all people reach retirement in the same physical and
health conditions. This poses a new challenge: knowing how to age healthily (WHO,
2015) and having to face illnesses and circumstances and situations of dependency.
Leisure can be a good tool to assume these new realities in a more gradual and
positive way. Active aging is one of the most interesting proposals that currently exist
in order to enjoy the aging process in a healthy, playful, interesting and active way.
Many times people with functional diversity cannot access and enjoy leisure because
they encounter barriers and obstacles that make certain activities inaccessible to
them. When designing and implementing an intervention, professionals, taking into
account the individual needs of people intervene in the environment taking into
account the following aspects:
• Improved accessibility
2. 3. SICK PEOPLE
Intervention in leisure in sick people requires special attention due to the complexity
and confluence of multiple factors. This is a diverse group, which encompasses
different degrees of disease (chronic, degenerative...). There are people in a
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situation of hospitalization (which can be short, medium or long term) and which can
occur in various age groups.
• The characteristics of the disease: aspects related to the severity of the disease
and the symptoms it generates. Side effects of medications or others such as
chronicity, prognosis, the phase in which the person is if it is a process. ..
• The person's attitude towards the disease: each person's coping style plays a
fundamental role.
• The support network: people in charge and the quality of support they receive
influence the attitude and motivation towards leisure.
Taking into account the diversity of the specific difficulties of this group and their
needs, the attention provided must often be personal and individualized, to promote
the inclusive participation of all people.
• Different age groups, seniors, adults, youth and children. For example, in caring for
children, those activities that provide opportunities to play and laugh should
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predominate, or activities aimed at adolescence should contain opportunities to
develop the emotional issues typical of age.
3. GROUP DYNAMICS
There is a wide range of group
dynamics depending on which group
you want to work with and the
characteristics of the recipients in the
unit. A careful selection of the type of
dynamic must be made in relation to its
adaptation to the needs of all people
who make up the group, ensuring that everyone can participate with the same
opportunities.
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- CONFLICT RESOLUTION DYNAMICS: resolving conflicts cooperatively and
creatively through empathy and communication. They can be real or imaginary
conflicts.
• Limited: it is carried out for a limited period of time, intensively and constantly
during this period.
These are some aspects to take into account when developing accompaniment:
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– When the activity is carried out outside the habitual residence, the person must be
accompanied so that they can arrive calmly, comfortably and safely to the place
where the activity takes place.
– You must also inform them about access and help them.
– The user can choose the resources that he prefers and those that are most
rewarding and appropriate.
• Course of leisure activities and free time, if the person needs it.
• Support for the person to facilitate adaptation to the chosen resource and the
group they have joined. There are times when people in a situation of dependency
may feel insecure at first when they arrive at a new resource where they do not know
anyone. Having a trusted person by their side (in this case, the care technician for
people in a situation of dependency) can help them feel comfortable and safe and,
therefore, integrated.
• When transmitting information, be faithful to the meaning of the words and do not
reinterpret.
• To accompany during leisure activities using the necessary supports and resources
appropriate for each person.
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• To resolve any problems that may arise throughout the entire process, allowing
them to enjoy leisure in a full and rewarding way.
5. LEISURE RESOURCES
As it has been developed in this teaching unit, leisure time for people with
dependency constitutes a valuable tool that brings them multiple benefits, such as
socialization, increased self-esteem, stimulation and cognitive development or
improvement of the state of spirit, among many others. There is a wide range of
leisure resources for people with dependency, which we can group into: resources
with games, festivities, physical activity and sports, tourism, outdoors, art and culture
activities, training resources, new technologies and volunteering.
5.1. GAMES
Although playing is usually associated mainly with the childhood stage, playing is a
need present throughout life and allows us to relate to others and to the environment,
motivating oneself, escaping from problems and worries, and learning while Its
enjoyable.
• Motor coordination
• Cognitive development
• Relationships
• Emotional management
• Language
Games have an educational, therapeutic and stimulating purpose. They allow people
to express their feelings and release tensions to regain emotional balance and, in
addition, they stimulate the spirit of resilience and personal improvement when
facing challenges.
Playing is a way to relax, it helps put the imagination in motion and socialize. As with
children, it keeps adults active and creative. At each life stage the ways of playing
may be different, but they are always interesting and motivating for the person. Play
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for older people and people with dependency is equally important and essential for
their physical and mental health. Remember that playing has no age.
The benefits that play brings to the mental and physical health of people in a
dependent situation are:
• It increases self-esteem.
A leisure resource for people with dependency is the application of play therapy.
Play therapy is those organized activities based on playing games. They are used as
a tool to maintain and preserve the abilities of people in a situation of dependency
and to improve or acquire new skills, interacting with others and benefiting the mood
or emotional problems. They aim to influence the improvement of their quality of life.
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• To avoid slippery materials that make it difficult to pick up.
• To include audible time warnings that allow the response speed to be adapted to
the preferences of the different players.
• To use saturated colors that facilitate tactile recognition and distinction of color
ranges.
• To make sure there is adequate contrast between the background of the cards and
the content to facilitate viewing.
ONCE y CEAPAT
There are public and private organizations, foundations and/or associations that offer
resources and guidance to professionals in the educational field and families on
special recreational resources adapted to the needs and characteristics of people in
a situation of dependency.
• State Center for Personal Autonomy and Technical Aid (CEAPAT): it offers advice
to families and professionals who request it.
5.2. PARTIES
Parties are meeting spaces where several people get together in order to celebrate
an event with the aim of having fun and having a good time. Parties are a
recreational resource with great potential for pleasure and joy, since the emotion of
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enjoying can range from the initial moments of planning and preparing it to the
moment of celebration of the party and the subsequent moments of memory and
remembrance of the situations experienced. .
There are always reasons to hold festive celebrations, from users' or workers'
birthdays, to welcome new people to the association or residence, to celebrate
religious holidays (Christmas, Three Kings, Easter, Holy Week) or popular and
traditional festivities ( Carnival, Fallas or Book Day) and solstices and changes of
season (welcome of summer, autumn) among others.
The festivities can be celebrated both inside the home or residence and outside the
center, encouraging participation in neighborhood festivals, major city festivals or
other festive events in squares, streets or entertainment venues. Organizing a party
or celebrating a holiday, such as Christmas, is a very good opportunity to do
workshops and related activities. Some examples:
• To make a Failure.
The practice of sports and physical activities adapted to the level of performance that
the person with a dependency situation can carry out helps maintain motor functions
and their rehabilitation, providing multiple benefits:
• It improves coordination.
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• It contributes to the development of joint mobility.
• It improves flexibility.
• It improves orientation.
• It improves autonomy.
• It provides well-being.
• It promotes the acquisition and consolidation of healthy habits and body hygiene.
There is a wide range of resources and sports offers aimed at groups in situations of
dependency that include options as diverse as aqua gym, yoga, maintenance
gymnastics, bowling, boules(petanca), swimming, athletics or basketball, among
many. others.
Share your energy: volunteer initiative for sports support of people with visual
disabilities
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The online platform Share your energy is created jointly by the energy company EDP,
with the collaboration of ONCE and the Spanish Federation of Sports for the Blind
(FEDC).
Its objective is to facilitate contact between people with visual disabilities and sports
fans so that they can act as guides to go running, cycling or any other sporting
activity for which they need help.
This digital resource also shows guidelines and tutorials for the different profiles of
runners and facilitates their understanding. You just have to register, fill out the
profile and see the runners that best fit the geographical area and competition times,
which makes it easier for dependent people who access this resource to be able,
thanks to the work of the volunteers, to train properly. amateur or even participate in
races and marathons.
bit.ly/35MMYPZ • www.compartetuenergia.com
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of material to use must be manipulative, safe, to avoid accidents, light and
transportable, motivating and original.
• Nutrition. You have to follow some tips:
– To hydrate during physical activity, before and after.
– To eat fruits, nuts or a snack one or two hours before starting exercise.
– To avoid exercising during the hottest hours.
5.3.1. DANCING
Dancing is a resource to maintain good
physical condition while the person
enjoys and has fun. It allows us to
develop psychomotor skills such as
balance, muscle tone, posture,
orientation, sense of rhythm,
coordination, and it also strengthens the
joints.
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and the cultural and heritage environment that surrounds them and enjoy while
learning. Professionals must ensure that the spaces where they want to carry out
outdoor leisure activities with people in a situation of dependency are accessible and
ensure that the entire group can arrive, access and enjoy the activity. For example,
taking a trip to the museum, to the mountains or to the urban space, or even to the
beach.
The technician can propose workshops and non-professional artistic activities based
on the users' preferences, such as goldsmith workshops, craft workshops such as
painting, sculpturing or DIY (do it yourself), dancing workshops or music workshops.
People in a situation of dependency can enjoy cultural and artistic resources adapted
to enable their access, such as museums, exhibition halls, theaters, movie theaters,
and guided tours. In relation to the individual needs of the people who access the
resource, the dependency care technician must take into account aspects such as:
• To ensure the adaptation of the rooms and ensure the availability of individual
auxiliary aids required by users. For example, devices for access to auditory
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information; in some movie theaters for people with visual functional diversity there
are audio descriptive systems.
• When traveling to cultural and artistic resources, take into account to reserve
places for people with reduced mobility, so that there are no difficulties in enjoying
the performances in the venues and they can be established in reserved and pre-
established locations that provide equality conditions.
Thanks to the adaptations and tools accessible to new technologies such as the
screen reader, voice recognition or the touch screen, among others, people in a
situation of dependency can access the digital world and its advantages in the face
of difficulties focusing on the screen, display the letters on the keyboard or the
precise handling of the mouse. In relation to accessibility, currently the work carried
out even extends to make the design of web pages more flexible so that those
people who suffer from some type of disability can adequately perceive and
understand the contents to be able to navigate. It is about providing equitable access
that equalizes the opportunities to access and interact with information.
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The use of new technologies provides some of the following supports to people in a
situation of dependency:
• Training and learning support: activities and games to maintain and prevent
cognitive functions or to stimulate memory and attention or access to distance
training through digital platforms which allow the acquisition of new knowledge.
• Support for access to information: as a means to read the newspaper or carry out
procedures with official organizations.
• Support for access to knowledge: search for information on any topic that becomes
of interest and obtain diverse information.
There is a wide range of volunteer activities in which you can collaborate and
participate. Some of the most common are:
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• Activities about the environment such as working in the garden or going on outings
to replant trees.
• To dedicate a few hours to attend and manage tasks in charity stores run by NGOs
or associations.
Professionals must inform users of the solidarity volunteer resources that exist in the
territory and guide them in the activities in which they want to participate voluntarily.
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