The Leisure Competence Measure (LCM) is a testing tool with a 201-page manual that can be used with most patient populations served by recreational therapists.


The LCM is a standardized instrument designed to measure outcomes in recreational therapy. It consists of eight subscales: leisure awareness, leisure attitude, leisure skills, cultural/social behaviors, interpersonal skills, community integration skills, social contact, and community participation. It works for both screening and full client evaluation. The LCM will: objectively measure change in client functioning over time, provide a basis for evidence-based decision making, guide client-centered goal setting and recreational therapy intervention, provide a mechanism for program evaluation, help ensure compliance with CARF, JCAHO, and CCHSA standards, and provide accountability data to funding sources, administrators, and inter-disciplinary teams. The LCM has been rigorously tested with demonstrated evidence of good validity, reliability, feasibility, and sensitivity to change. It has been found useful across a variety of settings, from rehabilitation to long-term care.


The LCM Professional Manual includes the LCM and provides: detailed, step-by-step guidelines for ad-ministering, scoring, and interpreting the LCM, LCM practice cases and accompanying explanatory notes for both screening and full client evaluation, and the conceptual basis and theoretical framework for the LCM. Additionally, the LCM Professional Manual includes: an overview of theoretical frameworks that have direct relevance to recreational therapy practice, an introduction to major conceptual frameworks of disability, an introduction to measuring outcomes, an overview of goal setting, along with goal setting case studies, and an introduction to goal attainment scaling and recreational therapy practice.