Oral Presentations
A Wild Approach to Mental Health: Discovering Effective Wilderness Therapy Methods for Montana’s Veterans
Presentation Type
Presentation
Faculty Mentor’s Full Name
Jennifer Thomsen
Faculty Mentor’s Department
Parks, Tourism and Recreation Management
Abstract / Artist's Statement
The suicide rate among veterans in Montana is double the national rate. To help combat this mental health crisis, non-profit organizations have created outdoor programs for veterans to improve the quality of life for these individuals through nature experiences. Program professionals and veteran participants from non-profits Warriors and Quiet Waters and Evoke Changes Outdoors have been invited to be interviewed to explore the efficacy of each program’s methodology and techniques. My goal is to interview three to five program managers in each program to understand the mission and function of each program fully. I will also survey five to ten veteran participants to gain insight into how impactful the programs were in relation to the betterment of the individual's quality of life. I plan to draw correlations between the outdoor elements of the programs and the improvement of veteran mental health and to see which therapeutic practices achieve better results in an outdoor environment. My goal is to provide feedback to the non-profits on how veterans are experiencing their programs, as well as sustainment and improvement for their operations. My work will contribute to the research and empirical evidence of the value of wilderness programs for veterans.
Category
Social Sciences
A Wild Approach to Mental Health: Discovering Effective Wilderness Therapy Methods for Montana’s Veterans
UC 332
The suicide rate among veterans in Montana is double the national rate. To help combat this mental health crisis, non-profit organizations have created outdoor programs for veterans to improve the quality of life for these individuals through nature experiences. Program professionals and veteran participants from non-profits Warriors and Quiet Waters and Evoke Changes Outdoors have been invited to be interviewed to explore the efficacy of each program’s methodology and techniques. My goal is to interview three to five program managers in each program to understand the mission and function of each program fully. I will also survey five to ten veteran participants to gain insight into how impactful the programs were in relation to the betterment of the individual's quality of life. I plan to draw correlations between the outdoor elements of the programs and the improvement of veteran mental health and to see which therapeutic practices achieve better results in an outdoor environment. My goal is to provide feedback to the non-profits on how veterans are experiencing their programs, as well as sustainment and improvement for their operations. My work will contribute to the research and empirical evidence of the value of wilderness programs for veterans.