Impact of Adapted Sports Program on Wounded, Ill, Injured Airman’s Quality of Life

RM 217

A quasi-experimental repeated measures control group design will be used to compare the quality of life of Airmen that participate in an adaptive recreation program to those Airmen that do not participate in an adaptive recreation program. All Airmen in the Air Force Wounded Warrior (AFW2) program will be asked to participate in the research project via email and follow-up phone call from AFW2 staff member. All research participants will have the opportunity to participate in the adaptive recreation program. The adaptive recreation program are 3-5 day adapted sports camps that are coordinated by the Air Force Adaptive Sports Staff and consists of sports and physical activities (e.g., wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, yoga, archery, swimming, etc.) specifically designed for wounded/ill/injured Airmen and coached by experts in the respective sports. Those that participate in the research project will be asked to complete quantitative surveys before and after each camp the participant attends. BMI and blood pressure data will be gathered at the camps for those that participate in an adaptive recreation camp by a trained professional. For those participants who do not attend the camps will be asked to complete the surveys and assessments at the 3, 6, & 12 months mark after initial survey via email and follow-up phone calls by their respective AFW2 staff member. Participants in the control group will only complete the surveys. The main objective of this research is to prove the benefit of these adaptive sports camps on the quality of life for wounded warriors.