Vets' Sports

From Fox News:
"For disabled vets, playing team sports boosts quality of life"

Wheelchair basketball and other adaptive sports could help disabled veterans boost their self-esteem and lead healthier lives, early research suggests. “Adaptive” sports have been modified to accommodate people with disabilities. While the study doesn’t prove the benefits of adaptive sports for disabled veterans, the researchers say they found a strong association between this special form of recreation and happier and healthier individuals. “A number of patients have told me even after going through rehabilitation and even after being able to accomplish activities of daily living . . . they never truly felt like themselves until they participated in adaptive sports,” said Justin Laferrier, the study’s lead author and a U.S. Army veteran. The number of disabled U.S. veterans has more than doubled since 2001 to 5.5 million because of the many wounded service members from the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the authors note. Laferrier, now at the University of Connecticut, formerly led amputee physical therapy at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland and at the Center for the Intrepid at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. He and his team write in American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation that wheelchair sports date back to shortly after World War II, when neurologist Sir Ludwig Guttmann organized the first games at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, England. To test the effect of adaptive sports, 220 disabled veterans were recruited in 2009 and 2010 from the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, U.S. Olympic Committee Warrior Games and National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic. Activities included sled hockey, archery, swimming and wheelchair basketball. Researchers looked at participation in individual sports, team sports or a combination of the two. They used various self-esteem and quality of life scales, noting physical and psychological health, social relationships and environment. The veterans had spinal cord injuries, posttraumatic stress disorder and upper or lower limb amputations, but also chronic diseases like arthritis, digestive problems, heart trouble and diabetes. The more the veterans participated in the sports after they were injured, the significantly better their quality of life. The more years they participated, the higher their self-esteem climbed, too. Those with more than 10 years of participation since their injury scored 27 on a self-esteem scale (with the highest rate being 30), compared to veterans with one to five years, who scored 23. Veterans who participated mainly in individual sports and recreation had much lower self-esteem scores at 22, whereas those who did team events or a combination of team and individual events scored higher at 25.

 

^ I have worked with the disabled (unfortunately not veterans) and have seen firsthand that when they are given the same opportunities to participate in anything that the non-disabled do it usually makes them feel good about themselves. I have played adaptive sports and they aren't that different than regular sports. I am not a jock or that into sports myself, but it is great to see those that are (whether disabled or not) get to play and enjoy themselves. There are around 5.5 million disabled military veterans in the US and everyone (from the President to Congress to the regular person on the street) needs to do more to show our appreciation for them getting wounded while protecting us. That appreciation should also be given to non-disabled vets as well. It is slowly becoming a cliché around the country to thank a soldier for their service the same way we ask a co-worker how their weekend was (as we are walking away from them.) It is seen as the polite thing to do and so we do it rather than doing it because it is the right thing to do. ^

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/03/30/for-disabled-vets-playing-team-sports-boosts-quality-life/