EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION / AE / MARCH 2015
VII
Foundation grants helping serve military veterans who bravely served us
An estimated 300,000 military veterans deployed since 2001 have returned home with Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD), an affliction with no known cure but for which early identification and treatment of symptoms can lessen its severity and improve quality of life.
Although there is no shortage of anecdotal evidence supporting the benefits of equine-assisted programs for veterans suffering from PTSD, the Horses and Humans Research Foundation (HHRF), with a monetary assist from the AAEP Foundation and others, has funded two scientific research projects that could provide the evi- dence-based outcomes necessary to expand veterans’ access to these beneficial programs.
HHRF is the only organization dedicated solely to funding research to support the equine-assisted activities and therapies field. In 2013, it funded research at the University of Missouri College of Veterinary Medicine examining the effects of six weeks of human-horse inter- action and systematic therapeutic horseback riding on 40 military veterans with PTSD and/or traumatic brain injury. The intervention’s impact on participants’ experience of PTSD symptoms, coping skills, emotional regulation and social engagement were assessed at the outset, after three and six weeks of participation, and three months after the conclusion. The research findings are expected soon, and publication in a peer-reviewed journal could take another year.
A related research project, launched in December 2014 at Baylor University, will assess changes in PTSD symptoms, quality of life and life participation of combat veterans who participate in equine-assisted activities. The research team will assess 75 veterans learning to ride and care for horses in five different programs using slightly different measures than the initial project in terms of well-being and recovery from PTSD symptoms.
The U.S. Army Caisson Platoon Equine Assisted Program, which serves the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, provided HHRF with seed funding toward these projects in 2011 after working with many veterans and finding tremendous responses from PTSD and traumatic brain injury recovery.
“The Caisson Platoon understands that the VA [U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs] is really pressuring for more research in this area before they will wholehearted- ly embrace it,” said HHRF Executive Director KC Henry.
A military veteran participates in therapeutic riding with the Caisson Platoon Equine Assisted Program at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
“Having the scientific evidence will do things such as influence the VA and their recommendations and endorsements, and in paying for programs so that more veterans can ride.
Henry is optimistic that compelling scientific evidence resulting from these projects will convince the insurance profession to buy in as well in order to help cover the cost of equine-assisted therapies for military veterans.
“It’s been a hard concept for us to sell the importance of research, and we really appreciate that the AAEP Foundation could see the benefit,” she said.
“We have 20 veterans a day committing suicide,” she added. “That’s an incredible number that adds up to more than the number of veterans who have died overseas in these last three wars (in Iraq and Afghanistan). And yet people still want to provide money for direct services; they’re not as compelled to provide money for research, which is really going to influence the future and the availability of this type of program.”
Courtesy of Caisson Platoon Equine Assisted Program
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