Rooted in the Community: Assessing the Reintegration Impacts of Agriculture on Rural Veterans.

Rooted in the Community: Assessing the Reintegration Impacts of Agriculture on Rural Veterans.

Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2017 Aug 23;:

Authors: Besterman-Dahan K, Chavez M, Njoh E

Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a Veteran-oriented community agricultural initiative (CAI) on transitioning rural Veterans.
DESIGN: Convergent mixed-method program evaluation.
SETTING: A Veteran-oriented farm-to-market CAI in rural Washington State.
PARTICIPANTS: Veterans who were members of the CAI.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Health, well-being, and reintegration were assessed by self-reported data from interview, demographic survey, validated health quality of life measure (Veterans RAND-12 -VR-12), validated reintegration measure (Military to Civilian Questionnaire -M2C-Q), and general satisfaction survey.
RESULTS: Veteran participants were primarily Caucasian (88.4%, n=38) and male (74.4%, n=32) and most had a service-connected disability rating (58.2%, n=25). Qualitative and quantitative data revealed that the veterans participating in this CAI experienced health and reintegration benefits. Results on the M2C-Q, VR-12, and the satisfaction survey suggest that participating in this CAI contributed to improved mental, physical, and emotional health and vocational skills, community connectedness, and interpersonal communication. Qualitative interviews supported quantitative findings and revealed that participating in the CAI provided Veterans with a sense of satisfaction, belonging, and helped decrease the stigma surrounding their Veteran status.
CONCLUSIONS: Veterans who participate in this CAI reported general improvements in physical and mental health, including improvements in sleep, nutrition, exercise, and decreases in anxiety, pain, depression and medication and substance use, all known factors which impact Veteran reintegration.

PMID: 28843773 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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