New Partnership Between Arizona State University Recreational Therapy and Help Heal Veterans Will Expand Therapy Options for Injured Military

WINCHESTER, Calif., July 17, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Arizona State University Recreational Therapy (ASU-RT) is partnering with Help Heal Veterans (Heal Vets), the nation's largest provider of free therapeutic arts and crafts kits to U.S. veterans and active-duty military personnel. The partnership is built on ASU-RT's and Heal Vets' mutual support of our nation's veterans and military and their families.

Through the partnership, ASU-RT will distribute arts and crafts kits that will be used as therapy to help veterans living with mental and physical disabilities. As part of the program, interns and students of ASU-RT will be given full access to Heal Vets' therapeutic arts and crafts kits to use in their fieldwork. Students have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience while evaluating the use of arts and crafts in recreation therapy services. 

ASU-RT and Heal Vets' will work together to seek out additional opportunities to use therapeutic arts and crafts in the rehabilitation of veterans. The goal is to create a foundation of research working with students and faculty that furthers the use of therapeutic arts and crafts in treating veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other combat-related disabilities.

"At ASU-RT, we are deeply committed to finding solutions to help our nation's veterans and military families," said Kelly Ramella, Associate Instructional Professional Arizona State University, School of Community Resources & Development. "Thanks to this this partnership with Heal Vets', our recreational therapy students and faculty will have access to valuable therapeutic arts and crafts that can be used with veterans as we study the use of arts and crafts to address the needs of individuals experiencing a wide variety of disabling conditions."

For more than 45 years, Help Heal Veterans, a nonprofit organization founded during the Vietnam War, has supplied arts and crafts kits free of charge to injured servicemen and women and U.S. veterans. The kits often become a part of the patient's treatment plan, giving them a creative outlet along with tangible therapeutic and rehabilitation benefits. The kits improve fine motor skills, cognitive functioning, memory, anger issues and dexterity.  

"This partnership with ASU-RT is both an honor and an exciting opportunity for Heal Vets and for the veterans we serve," said Joe McClain, Captain USN (Retired), CEO of Help Heal Veterans. "By working closely with a respected research organization at a distinguished university like Arizona State University, we will be able to both expand and refine the use of therapeutic arts and crafts to reach more veterans with more effective therapies, creating knowledge that can also be put to use for the general population."

Since 1971, Help Heal Veterans has provided more than 30 million therapeutic arts and crafts kits free of charge to injured servicemen and women and U.S. veterans.

For more on Help Heal Veterans extensive arts and crafts program, visit HealVets.org or call 888-567-VETS (8387).

SOURCE Help Heal Veterans