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Hearing Transcript on Recreation Therapy and Healing our Wounded Warriors.
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RECREATION THERAPY AND HEALING OUR WOUNDED WARRIORS
FIELD HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH OF THE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 8, 2010 SERIAL No. 111-82 Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs
U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office
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CORRINE BROWN, Florida |
STEVE BUYER, Indiana, Ranking |
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Malcom A. Shorter, Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON HEALTH
Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records of the Committee on Veterans' Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process is further refined. |
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C O N T E N T S
June 8, 2010
Recreation Therapy and Healing our Wounded Warriors
OPENING STATEMENTS
Hon. Corrine Brown
Prepared statement of Congresswoman Brown
Hon. Gus M. Bilirakis
Prepared statement of Congressman Bilirakis
Hon. Jeff Miller
Prepared statement of Congressman Miller
WITNESSES
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs:
Cathy Chiovitti Williams, CTRS, Supervisor, Recreation Therapy Section,
James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, Veterans Health Administration
Prepared statement of Ms. Williams
Steven G. Scott, D.O., Chief, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Service,
James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital, Tampa, FL, Veterans Health Administration
Prepared statement of Dr. Scott
Hillsborough County, FL, Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department, and Paralympic Sport Tampa Bay, Tampa Bay, FL, Melinda Wheatley, Senior Recreation Therapist
Prepared statement of Ms. Wheatley
Keckler, Mary Ann, Spring Hill, FL
Prepared statement of Ms. Keckler
Nelson, Lee, Land O'Lakes, FL
Prepared statement of Mr. Nelson
Paralyzed Veterans of America, Florida Gulf Coast Chapter, Tampa, FL, Davis Celestine, Vice President
Prepared statement of Mr. Celestine
Professional Golfers' Association of America, Adaptive Golf Academy, Inc., David B. Windsor, Principal Instructor
Prepared statement of Mr. Windsor
Quantum Leap Farm, Inc., Odessa, FL, Edie E. Dopking, Ph.D., President and Founder
Prepared statement of Dr. Dopking
Sailability Greater Tampa Bay, Inc., Clearwater, FL, Sandy Ackley, Programming and Events Coordinator
Prepared statement of Ms. Ackley
SUBMISSION FOR THE RECORD
Verax Technologies, Inc., Pensacola, FL, statement
RECREATION THERAPY AND HEALING OUR WOUNDED WARRIORS
Thursday, June 8, 2010
U. S. House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Health,
Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 8:30 a.m., in the New Port Richey City Hall, 5919 Main Street, New Port Richey, Florida, Hon. Corrine Brown presiding.
Present: Representatives Brown of Florida and Bilirakis.
Also Present: Representative Miller of Florida.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. CORRINE BROWN
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Good morning. The House of Representatives Committee on Veterans' Affairs schedule this hearing and will now officially come to order.
I'm going to change the outline slightly. Before we bring up our first panel, I would like my ex-colleague, Mr. Bilirakis, who represented this area for many years, to come and bring us greetings.
Come up, Mr. Bilirakis. Yes, the Chair says come up.
Mr. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS. Madam Chairwoman, you used to order me around up there.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Come on up.
Mr. MICHAEL BILIRAKIS. I'm here with my fellow veterans. I'd rather be here with my fellow veterans. I appreciate that very much.
It was wonderful working with you. You were on the Veterans' Committee all through the years from the time you came up there until the time I retired, which shows an awful lot of dedication on your part.
And I very much appreciate, on behalf of us, all that you've done, the Veterans' Committee, down here, and you're taking care of my little boy up there.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you.
Will the first panel come up, please? I would like to thank everyone for attending this hearing.
I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to the city of New Port Richey and Congressman Bilirakis for hosting us today.
Thank you.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. My pleasure.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. And I certainly want to thank Mr. Miller for joining us also.
Modern medical advances have increased the survival rate of our soldiers who sustain injuries while serving this country, but those soldiers are also left with serious and complex wounds, which require continuous care once they return home.
One of the key challenges facing the the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today is the ability to meet the rehabilitation needs of our veterans by providing a broad and varied menu of therapy and treatment.
There is a clear need for high quality rehabilitative care for all of our veterans, both the old generation and those now returning from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF).
Today's hearing offers us the opportunity to examine a particularly exciting rehabilitation method. Recreation therapy is an ideal component of the rehabilitation regime because it allows veterans to be active by engaging in their favorite sports and recreational activities, while simultaneously sustaining the healing of the mental and physical wounds of war.
Recreational therapists can use a variety of techniques including sports, games, art, dance, crafts, animals, drama, music, and community outings to help reduce depression, stress and anxiety, enhance basic motor functioning, and build confidence among the program participants.
In other words, servicemembers and veterans have opportunities to engage in their communities and participate in sports and other activities that they may have enjoyed prior to sustaining their war injuries.
Today, I look forward to hearing from the veterans on our first panel about their personal testimony on how recreational therapy has benefited them.
I am also eager to learn from our second and third panels about the different types of recreational therapies that are available to our veterans, and how VA and private organizations are working together to offer this valuable treatment options to wounded warriors in the Tampa region and across the country.
I now want to recognize Mr. Bilirakis for any opening remarks that he may have.
Thank you again, Mr. Bilirakis.
[The prepared statement of Congresswoman Brown appears in the Appendix.]
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. GUS M. BILIRAKIS
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I really appreciate it very much.
I'm so pleased to be here today in the heart of the 9th Congressional District and want to thank my fellow Floridian colleagues, Corrine Brown and Jeff Miller, for taking the time out of their busy schedules to be here today.
As a matter of fact, ladies and gentlemen, we have votes this afternoon. If it were not for these two, we would not be having this hearing this morning. So they really made a special effort.
As you know, Corrine is from the Jacksonville area, and Jeff is from Panama City/Pensacola area, and they really went out of their way to be here; that's how much they care about this issue. So we really appreciate them very much.
It's a pleasure to serve this great State with two individuals so committed to championing the best interest of our servicemembers, veterans, and all the residents of Florida. I'm grateful to both of you again.
I also want to recognize the representative from Ginny Brown-Waite's office, Shirley Anderson.
Is she here? I know she's on her way.
Oh, hey, Shirley.
Ms. ANDERSON. Hi.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thanks for being here.
Most importantly, I'm happy this morning to see my constituents from the 9th Congressional District.
Whether here as a witness or an interested participant, seeing so many that have gathered so early and are willing to spend their Tuesday morning exploring the role of recreation therapy in healing our wounded warriors is a testament to the depth of patriotism and caring in this community. I thank you. It's an honor to represent you in Congress.
Throughout my career, honoring the service and sacrifices of our veterans has been among my highest priorities—as a matter of fact, it's been my top priority. Ensuring the men and women who fought so bravely for our freedoms are given access to the highest quality care and services is a commitment I take seriously. That's why I specifically requested a seat on the Veterans' Committee when I was elected to serve in Congress in 2006.
Since then, I've introduced numerous bills, many of which were incorporated into law, aiming at improving veterans' care and benefits. I was pleased to lead the effort to bringing a VA outpatient health clinic to Hillsborough County, and to work with local and national VA officials to expand the Pasco County Outpatient Clinic and bring additional services such as dental care to the 9th Congressional district.
I'm very appreciative of the fact that we have a world-class medical and polytrauma center, as well as the Michael Bilirakis Spinal Cord Unit—I'm very proud of that—nearby at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center.
The dedicated medical staff at Haley is second to none, in my opinion. However, it's always important that we strive to enhance the care and services provided to our brave veteran patients. We have got to keep working and keep fighting.
And, today, I anticipate learning from those of you gathered here about the important topic of recreation therapy.
Recreation therapy is a therapeutic endeavor that improves an injured veteran's physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health through activities aimed at increasing independence and quality of life. It doesn't surprise me that Florida is a national leader in recreation therapy.
I look forward to taking the ideas we discuss today back to Washington to improve the lives of veterans, not only in our State, but in every VA facility throughout the Nation.
In closing, I would like us to take a moment to recognize and honor those veterans in the room. As always, I'm humbled by your bravery.
Please raise your hand or stand up, if you'd like, all of our heroes. Thank you very much.
As always, I'm humbled by your bravery and your dedication to a cause bigger than yourselves. Because of your efforts, we are able to gather this morning freely, safely, and democratically.
On behalf of our grateful Nation, I thank you for your service.
I yield back my time. Thank you, Madam Chair.
[The prepared statement of Congressman Bilirakis appears in the Appendix.]
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. I'm going to yield to Mr. Miller for his opening statement. And also I want to thank him in particular for coming because he's from Pensacola, Florida, and I know he's struggling with challenges there with oil problems.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JEFF MILLER
Mr. MILLER. Thank you very much, Madam Chairwoman. It is indeed a pleasure for me to be here with each and everyone of you today.
I do have a written statement that I would like to enter into the record, but it is a pleasure to join both the Chairwoman, Ms. Brown, and, Gus Bilirakis, here in New Port Richey.
I have the great honor of representing the 1st Congressional district. We like to say that it is the western gate to the Sunshine State where thousands live like millions wish they could.
Interestingly enough, I was born in Pinellas County and I'm a McMullen by birth, so our roots go pretty deep around here. And I can remember very clearly driving up and down U.S. 19 when it was just two lanes. So that tells you how far back it was.
And it's great to see both Mike and Evelyn here. Mike thinks I used to listen to him. It was actually Evelyn that would tell me what to do.
But I just—one thing that somebody had put in my opening statement—and I think it's very important—an old sergeant once said that morale is what makes your body do what your mind knows ain't possible. And that is very, very true.
And all of us on the VA Committee do what we can to make sure that the Administration has the tools that it needs to be able to provide the services for our veterans.
Again, northwest Florida is home to many veterans and, of course, quite a few military installations, as well.
So I ask that my full statement be entered into the record. And I look forward to hearing from the panelists that are here. Thank you for coming today.
[The prepared statement of Congressman Miller appears in the Appendix.]
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you.
And Mr. Bilirakis will introduce the first panel.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thank you, Madam Chair.
And, Mr. Miller, there is a little road connecting Pasco and Pinellas named after you, McMullen-Booth Road.
All right. It's my pleasure and honor to introduce the first panel.
Mary Ann Keckler, a veteran from Spring Hill, Florida. Welcome.
Davis Celestine, Vice President of the Florida Gulf Coast Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of American (PVA). Welcome, sir. Thanks for being here.
And then Lee Nelson, a veteran from Land O'Lakes. Thank you so much for being here.
I'm so excited about this hearing. We're going to learn so much. And I'm really happy that there are members of the media here, as well, because we really need to get the word out.
Thank you.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you.
We're going to start with Mary Ann Keckler, who I've seen in many of our hearings around the State.
STATEMENTS OF MARY ANN KECKLER, SPRING HILL, FL; DAVIS CELESTINE, VICE PRESIDENT, PARALYZED VETERANS OF AMERICA, FLORIDA GULF COAST CHAPTER, TAMPA, FL; AND LEE NELSON, LAND O'LAKES, FL
Ms. KECKLER. Thank you very much, Congresswoman Brown.
And good morning, Congressman Miller, Congressman Bilirakis, and Congresswoman Brown. Thank you very much for allowing me to testify today. It is my pleasure to be able to help in any way I can where our veterans are concerned.
My testimony this morning will be to let you know that I'm a veteran enrolled in the James A. Haley Medical VA Medical Center since 1992. I have been both an inpatient and an outpatient. I am also the VAVS representative for the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) at this facility, as well as I have a son that is enrolled in this facility in the spinal cord unit, 100 percent service-connected, total permanent.
As an inpatient for 3 weeks in September of 1996, in the pain management program, I have had the opportunity afforded to me to deal with the many aspects of therapy to help with my pain problem. The one that stood out the most, and the one that worked on the mental release of my pain was recreation therapy.
All therapies, i.e., physical, mental, all just enhanced the pain as your mind on these two are constantly on the issues of the body. Not that they were not helpful—they were—but recreational therapy kept my mind off the problems it was dealing with.
When I went into the pain program, I was in a great deal of depression. Getting up every day was a major chore for me. I was encountering muscle spasms, and living off Flexeril to counteract them. This put me into an extreme lethargic state.
While in the pain program, I was interacting with others with similar problems. Recreation therapy kept my mind off my problems. I was able to show my creative side and also had socialization with others. We not only worked with our hands, but we went out on outings as a group. I then forgot I was suffering from chronic pain; mind over matter.
Suicide is a definite relation to depression. Pills that mask the pain—Flexeril, Valium, Morphine, Halcion, Demerol—can cause major depression leading to suicide, which from these I am a survivor, until I could feel myself going down that path again. I then took measures to correct this effort. I am pill-free since 1996, and deal with my pain in other ways.
While in the hospital, I had the opportunity to clearly take hold of my problems. Recreational therapy played a major role in this. Not only did I have an hour a day with the therapist, I also took projects back to my room to work on later on. If I had a problem at any time working on a project, a therapist was always available.
The present Chief of Recreation Therapy, Cathy Williams, was one of my therapists. She always was willing to work with me on projects. This eliminated any thoughts of my physical aspects of pain. Again, mind over matter. It beats all pain medication, helps with my thoughts of depression or suicide. This is the best medicine yet.
Not only have I been successful with it, as a volunteer, I have seen this work on many occasions. By the way, this is why I became a volunteer, to make a difference and help other veterans.
Here is the story of another veteran. This young man has been in the hospital in the spinal cord injury center for several years. He is now in the long-term care facility in spinal cord. When I first met him he would not speak hardly to anyone. As an amputee, he also was on pain meds. Depression had set in on him and he was feeling sorry for himself. He was pretty well bedridden.
The DAV had sponsored a pitcher from Detroit Tigers through recreation therapy. This veteran loved baseball. This was the highlight of his stay.
I would then visit him on a regular basis and also spoke to recreation therapy about programs to the bedside. This was done. A smile appeared. He is now in a wheelchair and is all over the hospital, and he looks forward to the outings that recreation therapy sponsors. He is the first outside waiting to be loaded into the van.
I am working with another spinal cord veteran that is indeed—indeed tried to commit—tried to commit suicide. He and I have had some discussions on this matter. He also is now in recreation therapy daily and has a smile on his face, as he also goes to the outings. And that makes his day. Happiness goes a long way.
The present Chief of Recreation Therapy has worked very hard on programs that make a difference for our veterans, both in and out.
Winter sports clinic, wheelchair games, golden age games, disability golf, horseback riding, sports venues—there is no time to feel sorry for yourself.
This has all been put together in the last few years. Three years ago I went to the past chief to put together the winter sports clinic program, which is sponsored by the DAV. The answer was: This is Florida. People do not ski or participate in cold weather activities. My answer was that we were all mostly transients from other areas of the country and have at some time or another experienced winter sports.
Under the new chief this is a reality and many are participating.
My son, a spinal cord patient, when he was in the hospital, his forte is computers. Recreation therapy helped set up a computer for them to use and hooked up the one they brought in. Again, the outside world is available to them.
Bedside programs are available, football pools, and they all look forward to the pizza parties sponsored by organizations and run by recreation therapy, dinners sponsored by organizations through recreation therapy. Someone from the department needs to be on board when these are taking place. And, believe me, we have many. Ice cream socials. The list goes on and on. Without the recreation therapy department, this would not be possible.
I, as a volunteer, have the opportunity to work with recreation therapy in many aspects in areas of the hospital. They do make a major difference.
My life has taken a turn because of their efforts. As a volunteer, I also have the opportunity to go out on the outings and help them. When on the outings, they also have to act as a therapist and nurse's assistant. Their training goes beyond just fun and games.
If I was not—if it was not for recreation therapy and the staff that we have now, we veterans would not be able to participate in as many functions as made possible for the amount of veterans in active duty, both inpatients and outpatients, that we presently serve.
In summary, with regard to the above, recreation therapy is a must along with health care to address the medical needs of our patients on both a mental and physical aspect. They are trained professionals in this respect and deserved to be noted as such.
Respectfully submitted, Mary Ann Keckler.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Keckler appears in the Appendix.]
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you. Thank you for your testimony.
We are—the testimony should be 5 minutes and—to give us time to ask questions at the end.
Mr. Celestine?
Mr. CELESTINE. Mine is going to be short.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. No, no. Take your time. It's your time.
Mr. CELESTINE. Good morning. My name is Davis Celestine. I was injured in 2001 in a training accident going over to Afghanistan for our yearly detachment. After my accident, I woke up in a hospital bed with several doctors around me. At first I thought it was a dream until I came to reality and it was not a dream. One of the doctors turned and said to me that you might never walk again, but miracles happen every day.
So with that said to me, I decided to do whatever it takes to stay active in my daily life. However, I was shipped off to the James A. Haley Hospital Rehab and that's when I was introduced to Cathy Williams and Jennifer Day.
From there on they got me started with simple stuff as the game "Trouble" and playing cards. They paired me up with a paraplegic named Max. And he told me, If your fingers are not working as well, use your mouth may make a pair of moccasins for your wife. So with that type of motivation in their clinic, it was an inspiration to be there.
Now their programs have grown so well. They have pushed me into the world of—the Paralympic world to compete in handcycling and swimming.
Also, I have a good family support that really helps. My wife, Deborah, and my twins keep me to be the best that I can be.
In my spare time, I volunteer at my local chapter where I am the Vice President and fundraising Chairman. I give back to the local hospital by trying to get the new injury involved in the great sports program. And that concludes my testimony.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Celestine appears in the Appendix.]
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you. And thank you so very much for your service.
Mr. CELESTINE. You're welcome.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. And we're going to have questions when the last witness finishes. Mr. Nelson?
Mr. NELSON. Good morning, Madam Chairwoman, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Miller, and Council Members. Thank you for having us here today. And it's an honor to be here addressing each one of you.
My name is Lee Nelson and I am a chaplain in the United States Army on active duty.
Last summer when I was driving to work stationed in Italy, I got tangled up with a semi-tractor trailer and received a spinal cord injury from that. There was some other injuries that they worked on as well—collapsed lung, different things like that—but I received a surgery and treatment there in Italy from the civilian hospital and was transferred to Walter Reed in Washington, DC, and then here to the Tampa VA Center, James A. Haley, because of the spinal cord injury work that the VA hospital in Tampa has done.
When I realized where I was here in the VA, they had a number of therapies that was set up for me: physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and, of course, recreational therapy.
And when the recreation therapist talked with me about doing different things and we went and did some track and field events and some of the other things that like swimming or things like that, but she talked with me about horseback riding. And I had been horseback riding before and been on trail rides and doing different things while on vacation or whatever. And I was familiar with the concept of riding a horse.
But because I was not an equestrian and didn't really know a lot about it—I had some experience of sitting on a horse—I knew that in order to stay on the horse I would wrap my legs around the horse and hang on with my legs and I wouldn't fall off. And if something were to happen, you had the saddle horn there to hang on to; but, otherwise, my stability was my legs. Well, because I'm a paraplegic now, that ability to hang onto the horse with my legs is gone.
And so I told her, the recreation therapist, that that's just a silly idea, get on a horse and fall off. And she said, Well, there'd always be someone there to help stabilize you and everything. I said, Well, you know, I'll just be falling around in people's arms all day.
But after talking with her and some of the patients that had been involved in the horseback riding, realizing that it was an ongoing program and other people did it who were paraplegics, so there must be another way to sit on a horse besides wrapping your legs around it. And so I got involved on Tuesdays. I go to the Quantum Leap stables, which actually is in this part of the State, not too far from here, and would ride the horses.
And as I think about recreation therapy, recreation in a sense—of course, you can break down the word and think about recreation and how it works—but I always thought about it just as off-time and time to relax, time to goof off, and didn't really think about it as being productive.
Now, I've ridden horses before. In order to help my physical abilities, I did physical training in the military to do that, and riding the horse was for fun.
But as I have ridden the horses here at the Quantum Leap stables I've learned that there are certain core muscles that I had that were weaker than what I was thinking. And that was just simply because I had to balance myself on the horse—and even though there were a couple of people walking along on either side of me, somebody else guiding the horse—I thought it would be best if I tried to stay on the horse instead of just falling into their loving arms waiting for me there, but—so as I managed to do that.
And for the past several weeks going each Tuesday horseback riding has increased my core stability significantly. And I didn't realize how that had gotten weaker over this past year. It was last August I received my injury.
The core stability muscles had increased in such a way where it's easier for me to sit up in a chair long-term and—or throughout the day—instead of just a few hours and then lay back down exhausted and not being able to do anything else. I'm able to do more.
And so the horseback riding events has significantly strengthened up my core muscles enabling me to do other things and to be able to go and work with people.
And as I said before, being able to just simply maintain the day of being able to do things instead of having to stop and rest and lay down and everything in the middle of the day.
In fact, there was a moment one time, a few weeks ago, and, apparently, there were some flies bothering the horse, and the horse is trying to get rid of the flies. But their ability to reach up with their hooves and flick a fly off is—they don't have the dexterity that we do, so they just kick.
And as I was trying to get the horse to go around a barrel to the left, he decided to kick and throw me in that direction a little bit more than what I was planning on going. But because of the strength of my core stability muscles, I didn't fall off the horse. I just fell over to the side. And, of course, the young lady that was walking alongside me was able to straighten me back up.
But if I did not have that strength that I had received from several weeks of horseback riding, I probably would have just simply fallen on the ground very quickly and not been able to stay up on the horse.
But the important thing is not that I'm striving to be an equestrian or my ability to ride horses better, it is how it affects me in other areas of life: being able to sit up in the wheelchair long-term, being able to go different places to sit and talk with people as a chaplain.
I'm a counselor. And doing that counseling and talking with people is—in my mind it seems like, well, that's a very simple thing, you just go and talk to people. But because of my injury it's not so simple anymore or hadn't been.
But now, with the recreation therapy, I'm able to maintain my daily routine in being able to sit down and talk with people and have an extended conversation with them and help them through counseling, and as was mentioned before, sometimes suicidal thoughts and different things.
Just what I was doing when I was stationed in the military base talking with our soldiers, oftentimes marriage counseling is the topic. But suicidal thoughts, unfortunately, is a common enough with our young soldiers.
And dealing with those issues and talking with them has been a requirement that I have the ability to stay alert and talk with them and not be exhausted in the middle of the conversation and distracting them and me from being able to give them a well thought out conversation and counseling. And the recreation therapy has enabled me to do that.
Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Nelson appears in the Appendix.]
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you very much. Thank you for your testimony. And for sharing that with us.
I've learned a lot just from listening to you, and I just want you to know, I also have experience riding horses. And it's wonderful.
The horses that I've been on in the past, they tried to throw me, so I'm glad you've been able to stay on.
But this is very educational, so thank you. And thank you all three of you, for your service.
I have a couple questions that I want to ask you. You all evidently went to the same service center, the James A. Haley Center. And, obviously, they're doing a very good job with their recreational therapy program.
How do you think we can improve the program to ensure that veterans nationwide enjoy the benefits of recreational therapy?
And we can start with you, Ms. Keckler.
Ms. KECKLER. Well, yes, it is something that's needed. We are number 1 in recreation therapy. We have a leader that has really taken the bull by the horns and moved with it. And it's something that probably should be experienced around the Nation in our VA hospitals, because it does make a major difference.
And what can we do to make it better? That is appropriated funding to be able to get out. Not every hospital can get the donations that we have been successful in getting.
And, of course, you know, with the economical situation in this country today, the donations are not as great as they were in the past.
Appropriated funding is the most important thing we can do for recreation therapy to be able to help our veterans get on their feet.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Mr. Celestine, what kind of activities do you participate in?
Mr. CELESTINE. I participate in handcycling, swimming. I do archery. I do field events, that is put on also by recreation therapy, which includes javelin, shot put, and a couple others.
But the program is so well put together. But it's just more or less having like participation from the individuals to come out and see exactly what people, like myself and others, can do so they could get enjoyment and get more involved.
That's when you can become an athlete by going on to the Paralympics and getting picked up by those guys and doing more extensive training and—well, it's pushing you forward, pushing yourself every day so you can know that there is a life out there after you get injured and just don't feel sorry for yourself.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. I watched a group yesterday play water basketball. Do you do that also? Not yet?
Mr. CELESTINE. No, not yet.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. I mean, they were just doing it. And I was like okay. All right.
Mr. Nelson, do you want to add anything to that?
Mr. NELSON. Well, I think that, as you mentioned, it would be an excellent opportunity for our hospital patients across the country to be able to have facilities like this, because it's a dual role in that there's the physical aspect of just working on your balance and core stability to be able to sit on a horse. But as the side walkers would and the leader there would take the horse out into the fields and around through the woods, it's, of course, a different training when the horse is moving a little bit differently than just simply walking around in the stable area. And, of course, that requires a little bit more balance and a little bit more focus to stay on the horse.
But more than just the physical aspect of it, it's just simply being out in the outdoors and the connection with the animal.
The horses are different than horses that I had ridden before, which, in some cases, I had a hard time hanging on with my legs and my arms and everything else in some cases because the horse is—not to the extreme of trying to buck me off, but at the same time we're not careful.
But these horses are very much trained and used to having people with some type of a handicap ability. And there seems to be a connection that's there.
And being able to connect with that large animal, even small horses much larger than we are, and being able to bond with that animal and have some kind of a therapy, there is simply a connection between humans and animals and is beneficial, as well.
And, of course, being able to get outdoors and not just working out with weights in the gym and different things like that, which is excellent, as well. But there's a place for that. And then getting outside and feeling like you're alive —
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Yes, sir.
Mr. NELSON [continuing]. Is very useful.
And the mental aspect of having some type of handicap ability is extreme and it can be overwhelming.
And being able to do things like this brings the soldiers back to the thought that they're still alive, they're still here on planet earth, and they can be—well, having a sense of normalcy to them.
And realizing that whatever the case maybe, whatever their handicap is, they still have that particular loss, but they've not lost their ability to be alive and experience things in the world.
So this is an excellent program that I would recommend for all the VA hospitals across the Nation.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you.
Mr. Bilirakis?
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thank you, Madam Chair.
Lee, you've actually addressed this issue.
But, Davis, can you elaborate on how recreation therapy has improved your quality of life?
Mr. CELESTINE. Recreation therapy has improved my life whereas I can get up and go. They gave me—they instituted a lot of stuff into me where you never—like, for instance, like I started off playing a game "Trouble." I could have never picked up the little game piece to move it along, but with—with the patience and the therapists, they allowed me to grow.
And then with that said, it's like—it gives you more or less an introduction to doing stuff. It's like if you can't figure it out, take a minute, understand your situation, and then go forward. Because sometimes you have to step back and look at the bigger picture before you start trying to apply yourself.
And that's one of the things they really instituted into me, that you look at the big picture first before you start jumping into the water and knowing that you can't swim and it's too late then.
So with that said, that's the feeling I got from this program. And that's why I'm so adamant about trying to get other people to understand the logic and the ability of these therapists to instill stuff into us that's going to be beneficial to us in the lifelong—in the life that we have.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thank you very much.
Mr. CELESTINE. You're welcome, sir.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thank you.
Next question for the entire panel: What other recreation therapy would you like to see offered that's not being offered?
We'll just start with you, Mary, if you'd like.
Ms. KECKLER. Well, you know, that's a good question. And I'm trying to think in my mind, because we have a vast amount of recreational programs going on in our hospital, probably more than any other VA—I know more than any other VA in the country—and I can't honestly think of anything right off the top of my head because we have so many programs.
We're constantly—we're not just 24/7. We're 48/7 with programs in our hospital.
We now have instituted a lot of the programs such as the wheelchair basketball games—or wheelchair games we're doing through the PVA, there's the winter sports clinic in the DAV, we're doing the golden age games, which has been done in a long time. We're really moving on. We do the swimming.
Oh, there's so much going on in recreation therapy. I can't think of another thing, unless something new comes on the block that we don't know about, except putting volleyball courts out there, but with the spinal cords—unless we train the spinal cords to be equipped to play volleyball.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Lee, would you like to add?
Mr. NELSON. Well, again, I would have to repeat what Ms. Keckler was saying is that there's so much there that it is difficult to think of something that's not happening right now.
And I am new to the paraplegic world and so I'm not real familiar with what all is out there, what all can we do.
But I think that the only thing that I can say as far as getting something that we don't have, I can't think of anything.
Possibly improving or expanding on some of the things that we do, such as the bicycling, the handcycling. I've gotten involved with that some. But the areas where you can handcycle—and for inpatients you have to be kind of careful with them and what they can do and everything—but might expand the program some. But it's there and people are able to—and they take patients out to go through the parks and handcycle through that area in a safe environment and everything. But that would be the only thing I can think of is to expand some programs that are there.
And, of course, obviously, we talk about other hospitals, they don't have some of these therapies, so to put them there would certainly be an improvement for them and for those veterans that are there.
But the only thing I can think of is to expand some of the things that they have going on right now.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Very good.
Davis, do you have anything? What would you like to see offered that's not being offered today?
I know we're very fortunate in this area, but this will be very helpful to the other Members of Congress throughout the United States.
Mr. CELESTINE. I was going to say we need to implement football. But they already have that, and that's call quad rugby.
Basically, like I said, there's nothing I could see unless we look at certain programs that will be beneficial to certain areas. Because depending on the terrain that you're at, it might be beneficial to them. Like I think next week they're putting on a ski clinic.
So they have different stuff going on, but at the same time you need to know what's right for that area or the type of crowd that you're more or less pertaining to.
So I'm going to have to say I don't know what else we can add to the curriculum.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thank you.
Mr. CELESTINE. You're welcome.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. In the interest of time, I'll ask one more question, even though I have a few more, because we have two more panels.
I think this is very important. What would you say to those who might question whether, in such economic times, recreational therapy, even in a therapeutic setting, is a necessary component of rehabilitation? What would you say to those who question this type of therapy whether it's feasible economically?
Ms. KECKLER. My answer to that is it is the ultimate of necessity in the VA hospital.
As I explained in my testimony, it takes the mind off of the problems that you're experiencing while you're in there. It gives you an outlook on life. It brings your life up. It lifts you up. It makes a difference. You're not looking at four walls. Recreation therapy doesn't allow you to do that. You don't have the thoughts of depression.
And, yes, we need to go forth and we need to use the VA at James A. Haley as an example nationwide to get this moving.
It is—I can't think of anything more important in our hospital than our recreation therapy department.
And even what I experienced with our veterans, as well as myself, and those who are in and out, that's all I hear is recreation therapy, recreation therapy, recreation therapy. It's a very important factor for them.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. You would say it's essential, correct.
Ms. KECKLER. Essential. Above essential.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Okay. Very good.
Lee?
Mr. NELSON. I would have to agree with Ms. Keckler that it is essential.
When I first arrived in the hospital and was involved in therapies and I was told about recreation therapy I was thinking, okay, well, that's our day off, that's the time to goof off and not do anything productive.
But as the weeks and months have gone by, I realized how essential it is. I do go to the gym. I work out with weights. I do some different things like that there in the hospital with therapists that are there.
And as necessary as that is, there's an obvious practicality to that aspect. You work out weights, you increase your strength, and there's that direct correlation; whereas, with the—and you might get with like the swimming—in recreation therapy see a little bit more of the connection is there rather than horseback riding or some of the other—playing basketball. You're using muscles and balance that you would not otherwise use.
And simply being involved in a game or a sports event pushes you just to finish the game, just to keep up with the person that's next to you. And it pushes you mentally to be able to push yourself and do a little bit more than you would normally do. Not more than you could do, because if you can't do it, you can't do it, but you don't think you can do it, you don't realize you can do it. And so you learn from that aspect of—there's certain moves or certain balance or certain strength that I do have that I didn't realize I had it; and by doing that then it would increase that strength and that balance and that coordination and all those things.
And so simply going to the gym, working out with weights—as essential as that is—by itself, is incomplete.
And so the recreation therapy completes the therapeutic work for the wounded veterans that are dealing with certain handicaps that simply going to the gym, working out with weights, or other aspects of calisthenics, different things like that we do in the gym by itself, would be far short of what they could achieve through recreation and sports and games and pushing themselves to a higher level.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Davis, on a scale of 1 to 10, a 10 being the highest, what would you rate recreation therapy?
Mr. CELESTINE. I'd say 11.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. It's good enough for me.
Mr. CELESTINE. As I said, the thing about recreation therapy is just trying to get you to do some stuff.
And the other thing I asked was—you know, usually, when you come through the door, the words that you can't really say in recreation therapy is "I can't," because that's not in their vocabulary. So they actually excluded those words. So they give you, more or less, a more positive outlook and like to move forward.
And, like I said, with that said, recreation is definitely needed within our hospitals and our way of life. That's it.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. All right. Thank you. Thank you for your service to our country.
Ms. KECKLER. One of the things I would like to add to that, one of the things that recreation therapy does in our hospital—we have a lot of catastrophic injury, i.e., the spinal cord, the polytrauma, and we have a lot of caregivers because of this.
Recreation therapy—we have the outpatients that come in that are catastrophically injured, the caregivers drop them off, and they work with them to be able to get them to get their motor skills back together. And it gives the caregiver a break while they're there for an hour or two. That's a very important aspect of recreation therapy.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Good point. Good point. Thank you very much for your service. Thank you for your testimony.
I yield back to Madam Chair.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Congressman Miller.
Mr. MILLER. I'm probably one of the most tight-fisted fiscal conservatives in the House.
But, Davis, I will tell you, that if anybody asks in regards to where we spend our money, you're the perfect shining example of where money is being spent appropriately; to think that you went from playing a simple board game "Trouble" to hand bicycling and those types of things. There's no question.
Quickly—because I want to try to help the Chairwoman get back on schedule—how did you guys find out that these services existed? A lot of your fellow soldiers and veterans may not be aware of it.
So how do we get the word out to them and encourage them that it works?
Ms. KECKLER. To me, like you have to introduce them to something they actually like or something they actually had the past, then it kind of re-sparks their interest in getting themselves involved.
And that's what recreation does. It sparks your interest in—you know what, actually, I did it this way when I was an able body. Well, let me try it their way. And that's when they introduce a different way of doing stuff.
And, I mean, it's just—like I said, it goes back to basic stuff, just getting a better understanding of how to take your time, look at the big picture, and then apply yourself.
Mr. NELSON. Well, one of the things that has happened there in the hospital is that they sign you up. They don't wait for you to ask. They don't ask you if you want to do it. They just tell you this is what you're doing to do.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. I like that.
Mr. NELSON. Now, I'm a soldier in the Army and I know how to follow orders. And so my nurses would come in and say, Okay, Major Nelson, you're going to go and do this. And I'd just say, Yes, ma'am, and go do it, including the recreation therapy.
Now, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, all of those fell in the same category of they wrote out my schedule. And my schedule was at this time I'm going to recreation therapy, at this time I'm doing physical therapy, and that's what I did. I got up in the morning and I did the schedule that they set up for me.
Now, when I got to recreational therapy, they did have a wide variety of things where each week when I would go there they would have something different.
And some of the things really wouldn't be of interest to certain—to some people. But others, they find it was much more interesting than they thought it would be just thinking about what would you like to do, this event. And the answer would be, well, I don't know if I want to do that.
But they don't ask would you like to do it. You just do it. And you learn, oh, this is—this is something—when we went to some track and field events, we were doing shot puts and discus and different things, and they were asking, Well, how many times have you thrown a discus? And that's an easy answer. I can keep up with that. It was zero.
And they showed us how to throw the discus and the shot put, which I'm thinking is a big, heavy softball. So I guess you fling it over just like a softball. But, no, this is too heavy to do that. You can injure yourself. Anybody can injure themselves, their shoulders, whatever else, taking a shot put and throwing it like a softball.
And so in doing that, I was using different muscles and different coordination. And it's not something that I would have signed up for if it was just on the wall saying, oh, sign up for what you want to do. I mean, I may not have signed up for half what of I've done over the last year that they said, okay, this week, this is what we're doing to do and go. And doing that particular outing turned out to be very beneficial.
I wasn't much of a basketball player previously. When I'm standing up, I'm really not all that tall. I played football, not basketball. So when they said, well, we're going to play basketball today, I'm thinking, well, I wasn't good at that before, I'm certainly not going to be good at it now. But we went out to play it anyway. And it was fun. I enjoyed it.
But more importantly, again, it's moving the wheelchair at a faster rate of speed than you normally do. And not just simply cones on an obstacle course, but you're having to get in a certain position to throw the basketball up through the hoop and different things like that that can cause people to find out what they're interested in.
Because once I did that for about an hour then—for some people that would really spark a deeper interest, then they could continue on with it. And for other people it's like, well, that was fun, but I'm not going to do that again.
But, again, depending on the particular recreation, the particular game, then some people would be interested in it, it would click for them, and be beneficial to their physical disability in finding out that it's not so much of a disability as they thought it was, and being able to do more than they thought they can do.
So this hospital has got the word out. You know, like I said, not just a poster on the wall, signing up for it that everybody can see, but it is: This is what you're going to do today. And no questions. No options. Just as one guy said, No highway options. Just this is what you're going to do today, and you go and do it. And it's a good opportunity to find out that you can do more than what you thought you could.
Mr. GUS M. BILIRAKIS. Thanks.
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Thank you. I'm going to thank all three of you. It's been very educational for all of us and we learned a lot.
And you all, your experience is amazing. You have a program that's a 10 and what we need to do is pass that on.
And on behalf of a very grateful Nation, we want to thank you so very much for your service, and also for your testimony.
We're going to stand in informal recess for 5 minutes, because I think the media wants to interview you all. And then would the second panel get ready to come up? We'll come back at 9:35.
Thank you.
[Recess.]
Ms. BROWN OF FLORIDA. Okay. We will officially come back to order.
Now, the second panel consists of Dr. Edie Dopking, Melinda Wheatley, Sandy Ackley, and David Windsor.
We will start with Dr. Edie E. Dopking.
STATEMENTS OF EDIE E. DOPKING, PH.D., PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, QUANTUM LEAP FARM, INC., ODESSA, FL; MELINDA WHEATLEY, SENIOR RECREATION THERAPIST, HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FL, PARKS, RECREATION AND CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT, AND PARALYMPIC SPORT TAMPA BAY, TAMPA BAY, FL; SANDY ACKLEY, PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR, SAILABILITY GREATER TAMPA BAY, INC., CLEARWATER, FL; AND DAVID B. WINDSOR, PRINCIPAL INSTRUCTOR, PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS' ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA, ADAPTIVE GOLF ACADEMY, INC.
STATEMENT OF EDIE E. DOPKING, PH.D.
Dr. DOPKING. I want to start out by thanking all of you for having me and having the rest of us here to talk about this today. It is a very important subject.
I'm the President and Founder of Quantum Leap Farm. We're a 10-year-old non-profit veterans service organization located here in Tampa, Florida.
Please accept my sincerest thanks, again, for the opportunity to present my testimony today.
Quantum Leap Farm serves current and former military servicemembers and their family from the current conflicts all the way back to World War II.
We provide exercise therapy, cognitive/behavioral counseling, family reintegration days, and personal and professional growth workshops for military servicemembers, families and groups. We use horses as a therapeutic too
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