Returning Warriors: Using Outdoor Recreation for Restoration & Resilience This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2010-48869-20685, 2012-48755-20306, and 2014-48770-22587. https://learn.extension.org/events/2307
Returning Warriors: Using Outdoor Recreation for Restoration & Resilience
Jan 15, 2017
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Returning Warriors: Using Outdoor Recreation for
Restoration & Resilience
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2010-48869-20685, 2012-48755-20306, and 2014-48770-22587.
https://learn.extension.org/events/2307
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Coral
Research and evidenced-basedprofessional development
through engaged online communities
www.extension.org/militaryfamilies
Sign up for webinar email notifications at www.extension.org/62831
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Coral
Providing education and resources for professionals working with military families to build resilience and navigate life cycle transitions
On Facebook at MFLN Family Transitions
On Twitter @MFLNFT
On Instagram @ mflnft
https://www.youtube.com/user/MilFamLN
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Anita On behalf of the Family Transitions team I’d like to thank you for joining us today for another Professional Development opportunity. We invite you to network and talk with us on FB, Twitter, and Instagram. You can also find our webinar recordings on the Military Families Learning Network YouTube channel.
Available resources
https://learn.extension.org/events/2307Find slides and additional resources under ‘event materials’
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Anita The ppt for today as well as resources for this webinar have been posted to the Learn Event page. You may come back often to this page after the webinar as the recording will be posted here, and as we continue to find additional resources, we will post them here as well.
Keith Tidball, PhDCornell University
Researcher and Senior Extension Associate –Department of Natural Resources
Licensed New York State Guide –Small Boats, Camping, Hiking, Hunting, Fishing
4H Shooting Sports Instructor –Shotgun, Rifle, Archery
Aspiring 46er –Adirondack High Peaks over 4000 ft
Veteran –US Army National Guard and US Army Reserves, Infantry
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Anita The presentation today will be divided up between two people. Our first Presenter is Keith Tidball………..
• Received commission from Ole Miss in 2000• Served in Bosnia (03-04) & Baghdad (06-
07)• Used climbing and outdoor experiences as
the foundation for overcoming addiction / PTSD, etc.
• National Geographic Adventurer of the Year in 2014 w/Nick Watson for work in getting veterans outdoors
• SHIFT Adventure Athlete of the Year in 2015
• Helped launch the Great Outdoors Lab in 2014 w/Cal-Berkeley
• Launched Make Adventure Not War in 2015
• Brand Ambassador for The North Face & Keen Shoes
Stacy BareDirector of Sierra Club Outdoors (SCO)SCO supports more than 250,000 people getting outdoors ever year in 3 main buckets: Military Outdoors, Inspiring Connections Outdoors (youth), & Local / Community Outings
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Anita Joining us about ½ way thru the webinar will be Stacy Bare……..
Learner Objectives:
• Identify the value of participation in outdoor recreation for returning service members
• Analyze research related to using outdoor recreation with Service members
• Become familiar with existing formal recreational/outdoor programs as well as informal opportunities in a Service member’s local community
• Become prepared to refer Service members to recreational/outdoor opportunities
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Anita Our Learner Objectives for this Professional Development are as follows….
Please tell us about your work(type your number in the chat pod)
1. Civilian2. Military Branch3. Community-based4. Extension
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Anita You’ve met our two presenters, now we’d like to get a chance to meet you. We’d like to start by asking the audience if you could tell us about your work. Type the number for your work in the chat pod, which is found on the left-hand side of your screen.
How can outdoor recreation help service members, veterans and
military family with transitions?
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Anita turns over to Keith Now that we’ve had the opportunity to hear from all of you and where you are from, we ask that you answer the question on the screen and Keith will take it from here.
Time spent in nature promotes mental health, emotional resiliency, and leadership development prior to deployment
helps returning vets enjoy and engage with nature upon returning from deployments
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Keith Time spent in nature not only promotes mental health, emotional resiliency, and leadership development prior to deployment, it provides invaluable know-how to help returning vets enjoy and engage with nature upon returning from deployments.
How can Outdoor Recreation help when service members, veterans and military families are transitioning?
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Keith Many veterans experience difficulty adjusting to civilian life after leaving the service. Time spent outdoors eases the transition and improves both mental health and social skills.
A new generation of conservation leaders & supporters
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Keith Providing service members, veterans, and their families with quality outdoor experiences will help foster the development of a new generation of conservation leaders and supporters from within the military and veteran community, including family members who will work to actively achieve conservation goals and become outdoor leaders in their communities.
How does Outdoor Recreation help with service member, veteran and military family transitions?
Outdoor recreation programs :• build a sense of community• promote skill development• provide stress relief and enjoyment
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Keith
Evidence?
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Keith The findings suggest that extended group-based nature recreation experiences can have significant positive impacts on veterans struggling with serious health problems. This approach is especially intriguing since many veterans may find nature recreation programs more appealing than conventional clinical treatments. Engaging in activities outdoors that involve physical challenge, camaraderie, and achievement of an objective may resonate with types of experiences that make military service highly meaningful and rewarding. Although more research is needed and many questions remain, the use of extended group-based outdoor recreation programs to ease veterans’ transition back into civilian life seems to be a promising approach.
Evidence?
• 98 veterans comprising the study sample were recruited and surveyed one week before, one week after, and approximately one month after participating in a wilderness recreation experience.
• In addition to assessing demographic and background information, survey instruments were used to measure changes in psychological well-being, social functioning, life outlook, and activity engagement over time.
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Keith The findings suggest that extended group-based nature recreation experiences can have significant positive impacts on veterans struggling with serious health problems. This approach is especially intriguing since many veterans may find nature recreation programs more appealing than conventional clinical treatments. Engaging in activities outdoors that involve physical challenge, camaraderie, and achievement of an objective may resonate with types of experiences that make military service highly meaningful and rewarding. Although more research is needed and many questions remain, the use of extended group-based outdoor recreation programs to ease veterans’ transition back into civilian life seems to be a promising approach.
Evidence?
• Study participants reported significant improvements in psychological well-being, social functioning, and life outlook one week after the outdoor experience.
• There was also some indication that these improvements persisted over the next month.
Presenter
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Keith The findings suggest that extended group-based nature recreation experiences can have significant positive impacts on veterans struggling with serious health problems. This approach is especially intriguing since many veterans may find nature recreation programs more appealing than conventional clinical treatments. Engaging in activities outdoors that involve physical challenge, camaraderie, and achievement of an objective may resonate with types of experiences that make military service highly meaningful and rewarding. Although more research is needed and many questions remain, the use of extended group-based outdoor recreation programs to ease veterans’ transition back into civilian life seems to be a promising approach.
Evidence?
• Participants reported that they were much more likely to take part in activities that involved exploration and listening to and helping others after the outdoor recreation experience.
• Changes in psychological well-being, social functioning, life outlook, and activity engagement were particularly strong for veterans who had initially reported more severe ongoing health issues.
Presenter
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Keith The findings suggest that extended group-based nature recreation experiences can have significant positive impacts on veterans struggling with serious health problems. This approach is especially intriguing since many veterans may find nature recreation programs more appealing than conventional clinical treatments. Engaging in activities outdoors that involve physical challenge, camaraderie, and achievement of an objective may resonate with types of experiences that make military service highly meaningful and rewarding. Although more research is needed and many questions remain, the use of extended group-based outdoor recreation programs to ease veterans’ transition back into civilian life seems to be a promising approach.
Evidence?
“Service members have a much higher success in reintegrating into the community when they are actively involved in recreational programs and support groups meant for rehabilitation.”
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Keith
Evidence?“For the physical challenges… we sometimes provide rehabilitation trips . . . where the guys go rock climbing or whitewater rafting. When you complete some thing like that, something scary—where you could fall out of the boat, hit your head on a rock—when people pass that, they’re like, ‘Wow!’ That helps out a lot. Once you get them up . . . challenge them, and they complete that challenge , they feel like they can do anything.”
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Keith
REWORRRS – RETURNI NG WARRI ORS OUTDOOR RECREATI ON, RES TORATI ON, AND RES I LI ENCE S TUDY
“ COLLABORATI VE ‘CUT AND PAS TE’ CONCEPT MAPPI NG” (C3M)
Two Collaborative ‘Cut and Paste’ Concept Mapping” (C3M) posters developed by combat veterans in the Fort Drum area.
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Keith I employed a method I have called “Collaborative ‘Cut and Paste’ Concept Mapping” (C3M) wherein participants are broken up into teams of 3-5 persons and are then given a simple task to, in this case, map the multiple ways in which outdoor recreation is important to veteran reintegration. Participants are given no elaboration on the task and outcome, but are simply given a large supply of magazines ranging from general health magazines, hunting and fishing magazines, non-consumptive outdoor recreation magazines, gardening and hobby farming magazines, lifestyle magazines, and electronic industry magazines. They are also given scissors, glue sticks, sticky notes, a package of markers of different colors, and easel paper. Participants are then instructed to spend the first 15 minutes of group time “brainstorming” what they as a group feel are the important meanings and messages they would like to depict, and sketching a general schematic of how they will depict these meanings and messages on their final C3M map. Participants then begin a 90 minute period of interactivity to create the C3M map.
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Keith Images and concepts from C3M exercise wherein participants report concepts and values such as reward, personal growth, maturity, patience and safety.
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Keith A C3M image with descriptors focusing on notions of togetherness, being with someone in the outdoors.
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Keith Multiple concepts are represented on this C3M including peace and solitude, goal orientation, and stewardship.
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Keith In addition to values of love, respect, and connection to nature, this C3M cluster indicates a strong feminine notion of interrelation, illustrating that the values of hunting as therapeutic outdoor recreation are not necessarily limited to males.
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Keith This is C3M image and interpretation point to one of the more recurring themes in hunting as outdoor recreation, a complex notion of family, feeling need and part of a group, and the ability to mentor junior members of the group.
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Keith An example of the importance of problem-solving and mastery in outdoor recreational activities.
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Keith This C3M clearly emphasizes notions of re-connectedness, and the relationship between interaction with animals and outdoor settings.
.
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Keith Another iteration of the importance of sanctuary, quiet relaxation, and simplicity
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Keith I used the general themes and concepts that emerged from the C3M to develop a semi-structured interview protocol, which I then used over a period of years with an organization focused on hunting for combat wounded veterans, interviewing roughly fifty men and women. I attended and participated in the hunting excursions and informed my fellow veterans about my objectives, but down-played any academic activities for the first few days, instead focusing on hunting and relationship building. By day three or four on each event, enough social capital had been generated to make the interviews relaxed and free-flowing, with the interviewees feeling uninhibited and not threatened. Though these interviews offer myriad specific and idiosyncratic explanations for why hunting had been a healing experience, especially hunting that occurred as a part of organized outings sponsored by my partner organization, important themes and concepts emerged across the interviews as well.
Please share reflections on the findings from the
“Collaborative ‘Cut and Paste’ Concept Mapping”
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Keith/Anita
Key Takeaways
• Time spent in nature promotes mental health, emotional resiliency, and leadership development
• Time spent outdoors eases the transition home after a deployment and improves both mental health and social skills
• Outdoor recreation programs build a sense of community, promote skill development and provide stress relief and enjoyment
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Keith/Anita
Stacy Bare
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Keith Introduce Stacy Bare
How did we get here?
• As a Nation, we don’t incentivize health
• Major stigmas on having any sort of identified mental health challenges
• Even more stigmas around engaging in health treatment or a willingness to admit you have a problem, let alone engage in problem solving
• Service Members and Veterans are fearful of losing benefits
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Stacy As a Nation, we don’t incentivize health; people are frustrated with the VA, but the VA reflects larger trends in public health in prevention, intervention, and treatment Major stigmas on having any sort of identified mental health challenges Even more stigmas around engaging in health treatment or a willingness to admit you have a problem, let alone engage in problem solving VA ends up setting up an incentive to be unhealthy and not heal—fear of losing benefits
How did we get here?
• PTSD in veterans (anecdotally) is assumed to be chronic; PTSD in non-veterans (anecdotally) is assumed to be temporary
• Treatment protocols focus on CBT, PET, or a reliance on prescription drugs because that’s what has ‘research’ behind it
• Lack of PTSD awareness. For every veteran diagnosed with PTSD there are 5 non-veterans diagnosed with PTSD
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Stacy PTSD in veterans (anecdotally) is assumed to be chronic; PTSD in non-veterans (anecdotally) is assumed to be temporary Treatment protocols focus on CBT, PET, or a reliance on prescription drugs because that’s what has ‘research’ behind it Lack of PTSD awareness. For every veteran diagnosed with PTSD there are 5 non-veterans diagnosed with PTSD
How did all that impact me (and other veterans)?
• American disengagement with foreign policy + my lack of social integration = There’s nothing wrong with me; I’m not angry you’re just stupid
• We tried to fight a modern war with a Vietnam mindset
• We came home to an underfunded VA struggling to cope with its broad mandate
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Stacy American disengagement with foreign policy + my lack of social integration = There’s nothing wrong with me; I’m not angry you’re just stupid We tried to fight a modern war with a Vietnam mindset and the VA welcomed us in the same way, as did many VSOs We came home to an underfunded VA struggling to cope with its broad mandate
How did all that impact me (and other veterans)?
• PTSD diagnosis requires a lot of work and battle for the veteran; – early diagnosis required veteran to remember, name, social, rank, and unit of the
American service member they saw get killed—non-Americans or non service members didn’t count
• Penalized for seeking out treatment and alternative therapies to healing
• Don’t pursue VA treatment
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Stacy PTSD diagnosis requires a lot of work and battle for the veteran; early diagnosis required veteran to remember, name, social, rank, and unit of the American service member they saw get killed—non-Americans or non service members didn’t count Penalized for seeking out treatment and alternative therapies to healing Don’t pursue VA treatment
What challenges/issues are you seeing with the
service members you work with?
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Stacy/Anita
So what are possible solutions?
• Refer returning veterans, or better yet, service members and their families AND returning veterans to create identities and capture the positive aspects of service outside of uniform
• Invite people by playing up the positive, not reminding them of the negative:– Come outside for a great adventure! vs. Come outside to heal! – You can do cool stuff! vs. You’re broken and need me to fix you!
• Support opportunities that integrate non-veterans on the trip and ensure multiple opportunities for repeat engagement
• Research: are you doing something fun, or something that has lasting positive impacts?
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Stacy Refer returning veterans, or better yet, service members and their families AND returning veterans to create identities and capture the positive aspects of service outside of uniform Invite people by playing up the positive, not reminding them of the negative: Come outside for a great adventure! vs. Come outside to heal! You can do cool stuff! vs. You’re broken and need me to fix you! Support opportunities that integrate non-veterans on the trip and ensure multiple opportunities for repeat engagement; one and done programs can be harmful if you’re not teaching tools for future engagement Research: are you doing something fun, or something that has lasting positive impacts? This is the difference between a free ticket to a game and a positive intervention, you need to understand the impact
Pitfalls to avoid• Absolutes: THIS IS THE BEST ACTIVITY FOR ALL VETERANS
• Prescribing outcomes for an event: – everyone will feel differently about different events and will likely need a different amount of
‘touches’ along the way; – program may be the starting point or just a rest stop along the journey
• Ego
• Fearing data and feedback
• Unwillingness to adapt to changing demographics of veterans and communities
• Striving on after the mission is complete or has changed
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Stacy Absolutes: THIS IS THE BEST ACTIVITY FOR ALL VETERANS Prescribing outcomes for an event: everyone will feel differently about different events and will likely need a different amount of ‘touches’ along the way; program may be the starting point or just a rest stop along the journey Ego Fearing data and feedback Unwillingness to adapt to changing demographics of veterans and communities Striving on after the mission is complete or has changed
Community Action• Finding overlap for programmatic integration between organizations
• Supporting each other, promoting each other
• Developing best practices
• Collecting and promoting research and awareness
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Stacy Finding overlap for programmatic integration between organizations Supporting each other, promoting each other Developing best practices Collecting and promoting research and awareness
Community Action - continued
• Don’t bash the VA; they’re a critical component to the solution
• Focusing on who a veteran wants to be
• Promoting access to the outdoors and healthy landscapes
• Stretch as an individual or entity, but don’t feel like you have to do it all
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Stacy Don’t bash the VA; they’re a critical component to the solution Focusing on who a veteran wants to be Promoting access to the outdoors and healthy landscapes Stretch as an individual or entity, but don’t feel like you have to do it all
What possible solutions and
community actions would you suggest?
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Stacy/Anita
What’s Next• Great Outdoors Lab; initial findings
show up to a 35% decrease in PTSD symptoms for an over night white water raft trip that stays for at least a week
• New research is indicating that PTSD may be a sleep disorder—time outside is shown to improve sleep even in individuals with PTSD
• More health care systems, like Kaiser-Permanente are prescribing parks
• VA has stood up a whole health integrative program focusing on prevention
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Stacy
What’s Next• Brand new world of health care and health
care practices is emerging; if we’re smart with the science and research, outdoor recreation should be well placed to capitalize on the opportunity
• Public lands, clean air and clean water remain under threat, protecting those things protects what it is we as veterans fought for—our country and our health
• Next research gathering—2016? AORE? SORP? Stand alone?
• The first book of its kind just got released….
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Stacy
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Stacy
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Stacy
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Stacy
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Stacy
Other Opportunities?Cooperative Extension 4H military youth camps –
http://4-hmilitarypartnerships.org/military-liaisons/partnership/index.html
Lots of links to organizations with programs at http://reworrr.blogspot.com/
Sierra Club Military Outdoors http://content.sierraclub.org/outings/military
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Stacy
What outdoor recreation programs for
military service members and families
are you aware of?
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Stacy/Anita
Key Takeaways
Being open to alternative therapies to healing may provide unique opportunities for service members.
Not all outdoor recreational programming will meet all service member’s needs.
Formal and informal recreational/outdoor programs opportunities exist for Service members and their families.
Refer service members /families to recreational/outdoor opportunities in a positive way.
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Stacy/Anita
Dr. Keith [email protected]
Stacy [email protected]
Contact Information:
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Anita Thank you Stacy and Keith for the information you have provided today. A reminder that resources are found on the Learn Event page for this webinar. If you would like to contact Keith or Stacy, here is their contact information.
Evaluation and Certificate of Completion
The MFLN Family Transitions Concentration Area is offering a Certificate of Completion for this professional development webinar.
To receive the Certificate of Completion please first complete the evaluation at:
https://vte.co1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_aVNDssMD048oQo5
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Anita Family Transitions offers a Certificate of Completion for our webinars. Please fill out the brief survey and then you will be directed to the Certificate of Completion.
MFLN - Family Transitions Upcoming Events
February 17th & 24th, 2016 Parenting In Times of Transition
2-part series
March 31st, 2016 Community Partnerships
For more information on MFLN - Family Transitions: http://blog/.extension.org/militaryfamilies/life-cycle-transition-support/
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Anita Please watch for more webinar details coming from Family Transitions. There will be a two-part series in Feb. on parenting in times of transition. We are finalizing all the details with our presenters, Michelle Sherman and Abi Gewirtz. Also, On March 31st, Keith Tidball will return for a webinar on community partnerships. All webinars, details and resources will be posted on the MFLN Family Transitions webpage
Personal FinanceMilitary Caregiving
Family Development
Nutrition & WellnessFamily TransitionsNetwork Literacy
Community Capacity Building
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2010-48869-20685, 2012-48755-20306, and 2014-48770-22587.
www.extension.org/62581
Find all upcoming and recorded webinars covering:
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Presentation Notes
Coral
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