Preliminary long-term health outcomes associated with recreation-based health and wellness programs for injured service members

• Published in: Cogent psychology Vol. 5; no. 1; p. 1444330
• Main Authors: Townsend, Jasmine, Hawkins, Brent L., Bennett, Jessie L., Hoffman, Jamie, Martin, Tamar, Sotherden, Elaine, Bridges, William
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Cogent 31-12-2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Taylor & Francis Group
• Subjects: anxiety; depression; health outcomes; mental health functioning; Military service; military service members; post-traumatic stress; Recreation; recreational therapy; reintegration; stress; veterans; Wellness programs
• ISSN: 2331-1908; 2331-1908
• DOI: 10.1080/23311908.2018.1444330

Recreation-based health and wellness programs for military service members are currently a topic of significant interest in the recreation and health industries. This study examined the health outcomes associated with participation in Project Sanctuary, a week-long recreation-based health and wellness family retreat for injured military service members. Linear mixed modeling was used to examine changes in health outcomes over four time points, and considered multiple covariates. One-hundred twenty-seven service members participated. Statistically significant reductions in total scores for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist (PCL) measures were found, as well as notable improvements in Depression, Anxiety, and Atress Scale (DASS) and mental health functioning immediately following the intervention. No changes were found in physical health functioning. Trends demonstrated that participants maintained the positive psychological health changes over the three and six month time points. Veteran's Administration (VA) disability rate was the only significant covariate associated with health outcome change across timepoints. Implications for future practice and research are discussed in the article.