Many veterans have difficulty with reintegration into civilian life due to factors including psychological health, social interaction, physical health, housing, finances, education, and/or legal matters (Elnitsky, Fisher, & Blevins, 2017). There is a need for services to enhance posttraumatic growth and quality of life for these veterans. The primary mission of the Racing4Vets organization is to help veterans with disabilities get involved in motorsports careers and amateur competitive racing. However, Racing4Vets efforts to promote community, healing, and career have not been analyzed for its impact on the veterans served. The purpose of this doctoral capstone experience was to perform a program evaluation of Racing4Vets and to explore the programs' influence on veteran well-being, quality of life, posttraumatic growth, and occupational performance. Participants completed an online survey measuring perceived competence, challenges with reintegration, and program influence on health, well-being, social support networks, and occupational performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the lived experience and explore program influence on occupational performance.
Participants reported slight to moderate perceived competence in mechanical skills, healing, health, community, and racing; little to some difficulty with their transition to civilian life; and small to moderate posttraumatic growth. The following themes emerged from the semi-structured interviews: reintegration, program involvement, supportive environment, life change, and learning. Overall, Racing4Vets facilitated social interaction, social support development, participation in meaningful occupations, and mental health.

Creator

• Kimmel, Barbara

Contributors

• Walker, Beth Ann

Publisher

• University of Indianapolis

Language

• en

Identifier

• Kimmel.B.OTD.2019.pdf

Keyword

• Occupational Therapy

Date created

• 5/1/2019

Resource type

• Dissertation

Source

• S37

Rights statement

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/