#ProjectCohort in the news! The October blog of Talking With Heroes Program, highlights a radio interview with our partner The Sierra Club Outdoors in which Project Rebirths collaborated Military and Veterans initiative Project Cohort is discussed and it explains why one of our shared priorities is Connecting people to nature for the benefit of both. The Psychosocial Benefits of Therapeutic Adventure: Project Rebirth and the Sierra Club Military Outdoors are proposing $1 million, three-year program development and research initiative called Project Cohort, to address a public health crisis our military Veterans face; under-utilization of mental health services and high rates of attrition from mental health services. To address this need, Project Rebirth is partnering Outward Bound for Veterans (therapeutic adventure), the Sierra Club, Georgetown University Department of Psychology, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) - U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VISN 17 Centers of Excellence (CoE), and mental health agencies across the Nation (Veterans Health Administration, Vets Centers, and local non-profit mental health agencies). The program provides a replicable continuum of care model integrating veteran peer support, therapeutic adventure, and evidence-based therapies to provide outstanding care to veterans. VISN 17 Centers of Excellence-Waco: CoE, coordinating with Georgetown University, leads the research design, data collection, data analysis, presentation of data, and publication of data. Longitudinal, experimental designed research will measure the following outcomes: 1) Overall mental health (symptoms of depression, anxiety, PTSD), 2) Resilience, 3) Social Connectedness/Loneliness, and 4) Rates of attrition/motivation to continue treatment. Veterans experience numerous positive psychosocial benefits from attending Outward Bound for Veterans courses. Results from a longitudinal, experimental designed study (sample = 199 veterans) at the University of Texas-Austin indicate that Outward Bound for Veterans: 1) improved overall mental health (including symptoms of depression, anxiety), 2) increased resilience, 3) increased sense of social connection and reduced loneliness, and 4) increased motivation to seek mental health treatment. OBJECTIVES To provide veteran-centered services through a continuum of care and peer-support model that will: • Increase Veterans’ motivation to access mental/behavioral health treatment through combining therapeutic adventure with a Veteran peer-support model. • Increase quality of mental healthcare and improve mental health outcomes by providing a standardized continuum of care for each peer-cohort that includes evidence-based therapies (includes pre-intervention, intervention, and maintenance phases). • Increase Veterans’ completion of mental health treatment through combining therapeutic adventure with a peer-cohort model.
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 11:46:07 +0000
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