The Rehabilitative Benefits of Golf for Veterans with Disabilities

Many adaptive sports programs for persons with disabilities claim to possess rehabilitative benefits, however, few prospective research studies have investigated the therapeutic gains of such programs. The following prospective study investigated the benefits of adaptive golf for increasing self-efficacy among veterans with disabilities, as well as its impact on their physical and mental health. The study enrolled 41 veterans of whom 13 completed an adaptive golf 8-week program. At the end of the 8-week rehabilitative program, results indicated no statistically significant changes on self-report ratings of golf self-efficacy, resiliency self-efficacy, or health self-efficacy. Also, no statistically significant changes were observed for self-reported levels of fatigue, pain intensity, pain frequency, anxiety, or depression. Factors contributing to the lack of statistically significant results were discussed. Implications for further study were examined, and the potential factors underlying the low retention rate in the golf clinic program were explored.