CRA Professional Standards & Ethics 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A participant shares personal health information during a recreation session. What is the CRA's primary ethical obligation?
- Share it with all staff for safety
- Keep it confidential and share only on a need-to-know basis (Correct answer)
- Document it publicly in the activity log
- Discuss it with other participants to build community trust
Correct answer: Keep it confidential and share only on a need-to-know basis
Confidentiality is a core ethical obligation; personal health information should only be disclosed to those who need it to provide appropriate care.
Question 2: Which action best demonstrates professional integrity for a Certified Recreation Aide?
- Completing documentation only when a supervisor requests it
- Acknowledging a mistake to a supervisor and correcting it promptly (Correct answer)
- Covering up a scheduling error to avoid conflict
- Delegating all incident reports to senior staff
Correct answer: Acknowledging a mistake to a supervisor and correcting it promptly
Professional integrity requires honest acknowledgment of errors and timely corrective action.
Question 3: A CRA notices a colleague making an inappropriate comment to a participant. The BEST immediate response is to:
- Ignore it to avoid workplace conflict
- Laugh along to diffuse the tension
- Intervene respectfully and report the incident per facility policy (Correct answer)
- Wait to see if the participant complains first
Correct answer: Intervene respectfully and report the incident per facility policy
CRAs have a duty to protect participant dignity and must intervene and report inappropriate behavior according to facility protocol.
Question 4: What does the principle of 'beneficence' require of a recreation aide?
- Avoiding all risk in programming
- Acting in the best interest of participants to promote their well-being (Correct answer)
- Following only the participant's expressed wishes regardless of safety
- Maximizing financial benefit for the facility
Correct answer: Acting in the best interest of participants to promote their well-being
Beneficence means actively doing good and promoting the welfare and best interests of participants.
Question 5: A participant refuses to participate in a mandatory group activity. A CRA should:
- Force participation since it is part of the treatment plan
- Respect the refusal, document it, and notify the supervising therapist (Correct answer)
- Ignore the refusal and proceed with the activity
- Remove the participant from the program
Correct answer: Respect the refusal, document it, and notify the supervising therapist
Respecting autonomy means honoring a participant's right to refuse, while proper documentation and notification ensures care continuity.
Question 6: Why is it important for a CRA to maintain up-to-date knowledge of facility policies?
- To impress supervisors during performance reviews
- To ensure safe, consistent, and ethically sound service delivery (Correct answer)
- To qualify for higher pay grades
- Policies rarely change so it is not critical
Correct answer: To ensure safe, consistent, and ethically sound service delivery
Current knowledge of policies ensures that CRAs deliver services safely, consistently, and in compliance with professional and legal standards.
Question 7: A CRA is asked by a participant's family member for details about the participant's progress. The appropriate response is to:
- Provide a full verbal update to maintain family relations
- Confirm whether a release of information is on file before sharing any details (Correct answer)
- Decline all discussion to avoid any liability
- Share only positive information to keep the family happy
Correct answer: Confirm whether a release of information is on file before sharing any details
Information can only be shared with family members if a signed release of information authorizing disclosure is on file.
CRA Professional Standards & Ethics 2
A participant shares personal health information during a recreation session.
What is the CRA's primary ethical obligation?