The Therapeutic Recreation Program is an on-going variety of weekend outings and
cultural activities. The services offered by the program
include group activities, massage, stress reduction, hair
and nail care, seminars and lectures on AIDS-related
topics, classes on-site, a video library, a merchant
discount program, and pot-luck dinners. The program also
publishes SAAFIRE, a monthly newsletter distributed to
clients, containing news, articles, and events listings.
The program provides an initial
structured group orientation to allow clients to discuss
recreation needs, learn about the services, and meet
other people coming in for the first time, thereby
avoiding the stressful experience of walking into a group
of strangers who already seem busy and comfortable with
each other.
Significant aspects of a Person Living
With AIDS' (PLWA's) life may be dictated by medical
therapy, financial limitations, and requirements of
government agencies - all of which may result in feelings
of dependence and lack of control. The Recreation program
offers clients opportunities to socialize with each other
with a maximum degree of autonomy and input to their
personal use of the services and how the services as a
whole, evolve.
|
Nutrition
Counseling, which is
available to all SAAF clients, helps them address their
nutritional needs to maintain optimal health. The link
between the immune system and proper nutrition
underscores the importance of this service; it is widely
accepted that complications from malnutrition are a
leading contributor to sickness and death to people with
HIV disease. Services include one-to-one counseling, at
SAAF and at clients' homes, nutrition clinics focusing on
specific HIV-related nutritional problems, and monthly
nutrition education news in SAAFIRE.
|