Order Description

Describe population under the study; sampling method; inclusion and exclusion criteria; sample size estimation.
Describe where you are going to conduct the assessment or collect your data. The characters of the setting (e.g., location, demographic characteristics…)

What are the gaps for veterans during times of transition to civilian life
What are the gaps in nature based programs for veterans?

Background:
Veterans, as selfless patriots, and their families comprise a unique set of individuals within communities through the United States. Issues faced by veterans of the most recent conflicts in
Afghanistan and Iraq have been well documented to include “high levels of psychological, substance abuse and physical health problems” (Ahern, et al., 2015). Furthermore, the challenges are noted
to often begin with the difficult transition to civilian life experienced by many veterans, to include “depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)” which can contribute to
“personal conflict and substance abuse” (Duval & Kaplan, 2014). According to the Journal of Anxiety Disorders (2015), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects 23% of veterans returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan (Fulton, et al., 2015). The prevalence and impact of the physical and mental health challenges for veterans and their families cannot be underestimated.
According to the World Health Organization, “health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (WHO, 2016). The Healthy
People 2020 goals outline a variety of topics and objectives to achieve this comprehensive, holistic definition of health. One such facet includes improving health-related quality of life (HRQOL),
which is “multidimensional and includes domains that are related to physical, mental, emotional, and social functioning and the social context in which people live” (Ferans, 2005).
The impact of military service is well documented to impact the factors that comprise the health-related quality of life scores (Ahern, et al., 2015). The constellation of challenges faces by
veterans are an important area for health-care providers to further explore and understand evidence-based traditional and non-traditional interventions.
Nature-based therapy is an alternative, non-traditional approach to address the aforementioned challenges faced by veterans. Research demonstrating the benefits associated with exposure to natural
environments is “plentiful” (Duval & Kaplan, 2014). However, the research exploring nature based interventions specifically for veterans is somewhat limited. There are major studies, however
several are dating back to the late 1980s and explore the effect of the intervention with a variety of populations, to include women, adolescents and more applicably veterans with disabilities.
Several articles are primary sources and do provide input directly related to the specific intervention and population, specifically a 2013 article, “Nature adventure rehabilitation for combat-
related PTSD chronic stress disorder”, from the Journal of Psychiatry Research.
The lack of research tackling the effectiveness of nature-based therapies specifically with veterans and measuring the long term effectiveness of such interventions justifies the focus and purpose
of the research conducted. The impetus for conducting the research therein is clear. The primary focus of the research will be a comprehensive needs assessment exploring the gaps in nature-based
therapies for veterans.