VA's national rehabilitation special events: therapy at its best.

ix Historically, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been a recognized world leader in rehabilitation , appreciating the value of rehabilitation and its far-reaching effects. In a field where efficacy of treatment may prove difficult to measure [1], VA's rehabilitation programs demonstrate that even a slight improvement in a person's quality of life is a real, if not always tangible, rehabilitation result worth considering. Bearing that in mind, VA sponsors four national rehabilitation special events each year: The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic, The National Veterans Wheelchair Games, the National Veterans Golden Age Games, and the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival. These events, open to veterans served by VA medical facilities, promote healing of the body as well as the spirit through challenging competitions that push participants to their limits. This healing of the spirit does not depart from the scientific. It is purely the by-product of successful physical, recreational, and art therapy programs that help veterans overcome their physical limitations. Established in 1987, the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic introduces veterans with spinal cord injuries or disease, neurological conditions , or blindness to adaptive sports and recreational activities such as Alpine and Nordic skiing, rock climbing, scuba diving, ice hockey, horseback riding, and fishing. Through this recreational therapy, disabled veterans practice movements and exercises that help them improve their motor skills and independence, while gaining self-confidence. * Beyond the physical benefits achieved through these activities, disabled veterans improve their emotional and social functions by exchanging treatments, rehabilitation methodology, and best practices with fellow veterans living with the same type of physical limitations. Held at the Rocky Mountains each year, the Winter Sports Clinic is an informal symposium of living research, which over the years has resulted in state-of-the-art adaptive ski equipment, world-class athletes, improved physical conditioning of profoundly disabled veterans, and an enhanced understanding of disabled people by all who come in contact with the event. Like the Winter Sports Clinic, the National Veterans Wheelchair Games provide rehabilitation to disabled veterans. Established in 1981, the Games are the largest annual wheelchair sports competition in the world. This event gives newly disabled veterans the opportunity to gain or enhance sports skills in a therapeutic environment, while introducing them to experienced wheelchair athletes who serve as their guides or mentors. According to their ability, participating veterans compete in basketball, soft-ball, rugby, slalom, swimming, and track and field to …