22 Saves Hockey Foundation addresses veteran health and well-being by using ice hockey and other recreational activities to create a supportive, team-based environment for veterans and their families. The Foundation’s ultimate goal is to provide protective factors against suicide. The Foundation endeavors to interrupt what psychologist Dr. Thomas Joiner describes as “thwarted belongingness” by giving veterans a purpose-driven community that fosters health and support.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has found that male veterans between the ages of 18-34 are dying by suicide at almost twice the rate of their nonveteran peers; that rate increases for female veterans who are nearly three times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts. Research into suicide and suicide prevention have repeatedly shown that “desire” and “capability” are the two necessary conditions for suicide. Disrupting the desire condition by creating a shared community through a team-based activity that fosters interpersonal relationships, purpose, and accountability could save our most at-risk veterans.
OUR APPROACH
Suicide is a complex health emergency with numerous risk factors. Combining the risk factors for suicide with the stresses of deployment and the strains placed on service members’ support systems, it is clear how veterans have reached such a dire crisis-point. Using ice hockey and other recreational activities as a recreational therapy approach, 22 Saves Hockey Foundation aims to address the critical needs of veterans. Recreational therapy, a systematic process utilizing recreations and other activity-based interventions, helps to restore, remediate, and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence. Ice hockey is well-suited for a recreational therapeutic approach as it promotes healthy team dynamics, physical activity, and provides our members with an orderly, regimented routine. As part of a hockey team, veterans will engage with other veterans to cultivate a sense of belonging as they work together to achieve team-oriented goals and share in each other’s successes inside and outside of the hockey rink.
With veterans connecting with one another through our organization, 22 Saves Hockey Foundation can continue to support their health and well-being by providing resources and connecting them with other veteran-aid organizations. Research shows that creating and sustaining social supports serves as a protective factor against veteran suicide. By helping veterans establish these connections to one, we will further our mission of preventing veteran suicide.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership in 22 Saves Hockey Foundation is free and open to all veterans who were discharged from active duty under honorable conditions and who reside in our service area of North Carolina and South Carolina. Membership is also open to transitioning service members who are within 120 days of their EAS and who will be discharged under honorable conditions. Membership in the organization entitles members in good standing to participate in all events and activities sponsored by the organization and affiliates.
THE FOUNDATION
At the heart of 22 Saves Hockey Foundation is a free, therapeutic ice hockey program for veterans at all skating levels. This program is augmented by other key program components designed to contribute to a veterans’ sense of belongingness and wellbeing. We further support our members by connecting them to community resources, and we also provide educational workshops.
When our veterans get in the rink, we work to detect and identify signs of suicidal ideation and offer assistance by introducing protective supports that help address risk factors for suicide. The Foundation may work with families who have lost a veteran to suicide by providing financial assistance and other support.
Through service and outreach, 22 Saves Hockey Foundation highlights the significant rate of suicides amongst veterans, and draws together community resources while addressing the risk factors and behaviors associated with suicide.
HOW DOES RECREATIONAL THERAPY HELP?
The American Therapeutic Recreation Association states that “when individuals are suffering from a physical injury or mental illness, they need help learning, not only how to live with their disability, but to enhance their quality of life by reducing the isolation that [they] experience and helping them to participate in leisure activities.” Using ice hockey as an intervention allows veterans to build their confidence, engage in a supportive community to cope with stress, and addresses the risk factors for suicide.
New members will also be given a suicide assessment using the Columbia Suicidality Severity Rating Scale (CSS-R) upon their entry into the program.
GOALS
The intended outcomes for the 22 Saves Hockey Foundation include:
Improve veterans’ feelings of belongingness
Create and sustain veteran support communities
Increase veterans’ access to resources and other support
Increase support for families coping with the aftermath of veteran suicide
Decrease the rates of suicide amongst veterans
EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH AND FURTHER READING
22 Saves Hockey Foundation values evidence-based approaches to suicide prevention. This is achieved by member participation in surveys and focus groups so we can gather data to create measurable program outcomes.
The body of evidence and support for 22 Saves Hockey Foundation’s approach to veteran suicide risk reduction is growing. Below are a small selection of stories, programs, and studies that highlight our approach:
The Need
22 Saves Hockey Foundation addresses veteran health and well-being by using ice hockey and other recreational activities to create a supportive, team-based environment for veterans and their families. The Foundation’s ultimate goal is to provide protective factors against suicide. The Foundation endeavors to interrupt what psychologist Dr. Thomas Joiner describes as “thwarted belongingness” by giving veterans a purpose-driven community that fosters health and support.
The Department of Veterans Affairs has found that male veterans between the ages of 18-34 are dying by suicide at almost twice the rate of their nonveteran peers; that rate increases for female veterans who are nearly three times more likely to commit suicide than their civilian counterparts. Research into suicide and suicide prevention have repeatedly shown that “desire” and “capability” are the two necessary conditions for suicide. Disrupting the desire condition by creating a shared community through a team-based activity that fosters interpersonal relationships, purpose, and accountability could save our most at-risk veterans.
OUR APPROACH
Suicide is a complex health emergency with numerous risk factors. Combining the risk factors for suicide with the stresses of deployment and the strains placed on service members’ support systems, it is clear how veterans have reached such a dire crisis-point. Using ice hockey and other recreational activities as a recreational therapy approach, 22 Saves Hockey Foundation aims to address the critical needs of veterans. Recreational therapy, a systematic process utilizing recreations and other activity-based interventions, helps to restore, remediate, and rehabilitate a person’s level of functioning and independence. Ice hockey is well-suited for a recreational therapeutic approach as it promotes healthy team dynamics, physical activity, and provides our members with an orderly, regimented routine. As part of a hockey team, veterans will engage with other veterans to cultivate a sense of belonging as they work together to achieve team-oriented goals and share in each other’s successes inside and outside of the hockey rink.
With veterans connecting with one another through our organization, 22 Saves Hockey Foundation can continue to support their health and well-being by providing resources and connecting them with other veteran-aid organizations. Research shows that creating and sustaining social supports serves as a protective factor against veteran suicide. By helping veterans establish these connections to one, we will further our mission of preventing veteran suicide.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership in 22 Saves Hockey Foundation is free and open to all veterans who were discharged from active duty under honorable conditions and who reside in our service area of North Carolina and South Carolina. Membership is also open to transitioning service members who are within 120 days of their EAS and who will be discharged under honorable conditions. Membership in the organization entitles members in good standing to participate in all events and activities sponsored by the organization and affiliates.
THE FOUNDATION
At the heart of 22 Saves Hockey Foundation is a free, therapeutic ice hockey program for veterans at all skating levels. This program is augmented by other key program components designed to contribute to a veterans’ sense of belongingness and wellbeing. We further support our members by connecting them to community resources, and we also provide educational workshops.
When our veterans get in the rink, we work to detect and identify signs of suicidal ideation and offer assistance by introducing protective supports that help address risk factors for suicide. The Foundation may work with families who have lost a veteran to suicide by providing financial assistance and other support.
Through service and outreach, 22 Saves Hockey Foundation highlights the significant rate of suicides amongst veterans, and draws together community resources while addressing the risk factors and behaviors associated with suicide.
HOW DOES RECREATIONAL THERAPY HELP?
The American Therapeutic Recreation Association states that “when individuals are suffering from a physical injury or mental illness, they need help learning, not only how to live with their disability, but to enhance their quality of life by reducing the isolation that [they] experience and helping them to participate in leisure activities.” Using ice hockey as an intervention allows veterans to build their confidence, engage in a supportive community to cope with stress, and addresses the risk factors for suicide.
New members will also be given a suicide assessment using the Columbia Suicidality Severity Rating Scale (CSS-R) upon their entry into the program.
GOALS
The intended outcomes for the 22 Saves Hockey Foundation include:
EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH AND FURTHER READING
22 Saves Hockey Foundation values evidence-based approaches to suicide prevention. This is achieved by member participation in surveys and focus groups so we can gather data to create measurable program outcomes.
The body of evidence and support for 22 Saves Hockey Foundation’s approach to veteran suicide risk reduction is growing. Below are a small selection of stories, programs, and studies that highlight our approach:
The Success of Recreation Therapy for Veterans
Veterans Health Administration, US Department of Veterans Affairs
2/19/2016
New VA Program Investigates outdoor Therapy for Veterans
NPR
1/27/2021
The Impact of Minnesota Warriors Hockey on Post-Military Service Reintegration: A Pilot Study
St. Catherine University
2018
Getting out “on the ice” and out of themselves’ veterans use hockey as therapy
New Pelican
2/9/2021
Healing Through Hockey
VFW
3/9/2020
Contextual Facilitators and Barriers of Community Reintegration Among Injured Female Military Veterans: A Qualitative Study
Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
February 2018
Participation in Outdoor Recreation Program Predicts Improved Psychosocial Well-Being Among Veterans With Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Pilot Study
Military Medicine
1/3/2013