Publication year
2015
Citation Title
Dance for veterans: A complementary health program for veterans with serious mental illness
Journal Name
Arts and Health
Journal Volume
7
Issue Number
2
Page Numbers
96-108
DOI
10.1080/17533015.2015.1019701
Summary
A program evaluation of the Dance for Veterans program within the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (VAGLAHS) was conducted. The Dance for Veterans program was composed of physical, psychological, and social elements and was a new patient-centered and recovery-oriented treatment modality for Veterans diagnosed with serious mental illness.
Key Findings
Verbal reports of stress before and after class showed significant decreases.
Subjective responses to the classes were overwhelmingly positive.
Significant longer-term trends in stress reduction were not demonstrable.
Implications for Program Leaders
Focus curriculum on the physical, psychological, and social elements needed to support Service members and their families
Conduct cost-effective professional development such as Train-the-Trainer models for professionals who work with military families
Develop training for military professionals to facilitate dance-based, patient-centered, recovery-oriented programs
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage collaboration between military branches and arts-based agencies and professionals in order to facilitate best practices programming from both a support and arts-based perspective
Support, across military branches, the benefits of arts-based, patient-centered, recovery-oriented programs for Service members
Recommend integrating arts-based, patient-centered, recovery-orientated programs for Service members and their families across military branches
Methods
Participants included 88 Veterans who were enrolled in Greater Los Angeles Dance for Veterans classes.
A few of the goals of the program were to increase bodily awareness, expand individual and collective creative expression through movement and dance, and foster a sense of community and social integration.
Veterans completed two questionnaires once a month for 3 months: the Music, Rhythm, and Movement Class Survey and the Perceived Stress Scale.
Participants
Class participants were mostly male.
There was no data provided on participant’s age, race or ethnicity due to identity protection issues.
Illnesses of participating Veterans included chronic schizophrenia, posttraumatic stress disorder of sufficient severity to cause impairment of social and occupational functioning and to require continuous treatment.
Many participants were Veterans of the Iraq, Afghanistan, Gulf War and Vietnam conflicts.
Limitations
Demographic information was minimal, which limits understanding of how the program may have affected different groups of individuals.
Completion of weekly surveys was incomplete as participants participation varied from week to week, which could have biased towards the perspectives of those who attended.
Only surveys that were completed were included in the analyses, which could have biased towards those who could or were more motivated to complete the survey.
Avenues for Future Research
Engage in a long-term study to understand if and how arts-based therapy programs may help mentally ill Service members manage their stress
Conduct a qualitative study that explores Service members’ experiences within arts-based, patient-centered, recovery-orientated programs
Examine the necessary components for training professionals who can lead an arts-based therapy program for Service members suffering from severe mental illnesses
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Branch
Military Component
Abstract
Background: Adolescent substance use represents a significant public health concern. Growing research has linked peer victimization with substance use among youth, however, less attention has been devoted to the role of cyber victimization specifically, while controlling for peer aggression. Objective: This study examined the unique associations between cyber victimization and adolescent smoking and drinking, controlling for traditional peer victimization types and for peer aggression. Methods: Participants were 1064 9th_12th graders, who completed self-report measures assessing peer victimization, peer aggression, and the frequency of cigarette and alcohol use. Censored regression analyses were used to evaluate study aims. Results: Greater cyber victimization was related to greater smoking, drinking, and binge drinking, controlling for traditional forms of peer victimization, but not when controlling for peer aggression. Cyber aggression emerged as a unique correlate of all substance use outcomes. Conclusions Cyber victimization and cyber aggression co-occur with adolescent cigarette and alcohol use, however, only cyber aggression demonstrates unique associations. Findings suggest that prevention programs for adolescent substance use might evaluate and potentially target adolescents’ victimization and aggression, especially in the cyber realm. Adolescent substance use may be important to evaluate and monitor in anti-bullying and victimization interventions.
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