易胜博官网

Jack Pillsbury is a combat veteran whose three tours of Vietnam left him with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Until two years ago, that long-ago war was still affecting his life. Then he met Cathy Thompson.

Thompson is the director of (Promoting Access Transition and Health), a home-based therapy program that engages clients in recreation within their communities to aid them in making social and emotional changes that can lead to improved overall health. It was started by , 易胜博官网鈥檚 nationally recognized therapeutic recreation and adaptive sports program. Pillsbury credits both programs with helping to draw him out and overcome his PTSD.

鈥淚 was pretty much in a shell,鈥� Pillsbury says. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 thank Cathy and Northeast Passage enough for helping me get out of it. I went over to Vietnam when I was 18; I was a kid. At that age, that kind of experience 鈥� it sticks with you.鈥�

Pillsbury and Thompson went cycling, swimming and hiking. Through it all, they talked. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think of it as therapy but as I look back, I guess it sort of was,鈥� Pillsbury says. 鈥淭he talks we were having and the things we were doing 鈥� it put all that other stuff in perspective.鈥�

For veteran Melinda Simms, 笔础罢贬鈩� provided the opportunity to go outside her boundaries and try things she鈥檇 never tried before. 鈥淚 felt with my disability I was bound up in a box,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut Airi, my recreation therapist, opened my eyes to new and wonderful possibilities.鈥�

鈥淎t Northeast Passage we pay close attention to what veterans are saying: Where are the challenges? And then, we use the skills we have honed to address these concerns and empower each veteran to live healthier, happier lives.鈥�

And that is just what the research revealed: People feel better when they engage in activities in their communities.

笔础罢贬鈩� grew out of research Northeast Passage conducted in 1998 with individuals who had experienced spinal cord injuries. The results revealed that the program increased participants鈥� self-confidence, improved their quality of life and reinforced the connection between their actions and their health. On the strength of those outcomes, Northeast Passage developed partnerships with Martin鈥檚 Point Health Care in Portland, Maine, and the Veterans Administration in Manchester, N.H. that continue today.

In 2014, thanks to an adaptive sports grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Northeast Passage extended the scope of 笔础罢贬鈩� to veterans with all types of disability. Within the first three months, the program had received 70 referrals from mental health affiliates throughout 易胜博官网, and in 2017, 139 veterans received 352 home visits, totaling 773 treatment hours.

Program director Thompson notes that the 笔础罢贬鈩� model has been developed hand-in-hand with research. 鈥淥ver the years, we have seen consistent impact and positive outcomes of this intervention regardless of the person鈥檚 disability or combination of health conditions,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t reinforces the strength of this recreational therapy intervention and the importance of meeting with people in their daily community to create solutions.鈥�

A 2017 易胜博官网 study conducted with veterans from the Manchester VA Medical Center who had completed 笔础罢贬鈩� confirmed the earlier findings, also indicating a significant change for the better.

The study showed significant signs of improvement in health satisfaction and perceived quality of life as well as a marked change in leisure activities, despite chronic health constraints.

Themes that arose in an earlier qualitative study showed physical benefits of 笔础罢贬鈩� participation, such as weight loss, functional fitness, lower blood pressure, decreased pain and decreased use of medication. 笔础罢贬鈩� brought emotional benefits, too: higher levels of happiness, confidence, patience and self-acceptance.

鈥淎t Northeast Passage we pay close attention to what veterans are saying: Where are the challenges? What are the trends that are affecting them? And then, we use the skills we have honed as recreational therapists in the community to address these concerns and empower each veteran to live healthier, happier lives,鈥� says Jill Gravink 鈥�86, 鈥�07G, founder and director of Northeast Passage. 鈥淣owhere else in the country offers this home and community-based model of recreational therapy.鈥�

In November 2017, that leadership in the field led Northeast Passage to become the first recreational therapy provider for the federal program Veterans Choice, the first-ever federal funding source to reimburse recreational therapy.

鈥淭his policy change represents an enormous shift in both recreational therapy services and veteran health care,鈥漈hompson says.

The change also opened the door for 笔础罢贬鈩� to expand beyond 易胜博官网 and 易胜博官网 to organizations wanting to offer the program in their area.

鈥淲hen I came home, there were real trust issues for me,鈥� says Pillsbury, the Vietnam vet whose 笔础罢贬鈩� experience with Thompson addressed the lingering mental health impacts of that war鈥檚 trauma. 鈥淎nd there was no place for us to go. There was no 笔础罢贬鈩�, no Northeast Passage, no Manchester

VA office. I鈥檓 so thankful for what we have now. This program has spilled over into my whole life. I鈥檓 doing things; I feel more comfortable around people. It鈥檚 changed everything.鈥�