Abstract
Introduction
UniSA’s Invictus Pathways Program (IPP) is motivated by the spirit of the Invictus Games to mobilise the benefits of sport to aid physical, psychological, and social wellbeing. Originally developed to assist veterans to train for and participate in the Invictus Games, the program has extended its scope to promote recovery and wellbeing for all veterans through physical activity. This paper describes the expectations and experiences of the IPP from the perspective of program participants.
Methods
Objective measures of physical and psychological wellbeing were collected by survey, to enable description of the participating veterans’ wellbeing status. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants of the IPP who had not participated in an Invictus Games or Warrior Games. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to analyse the interview data. Coding and themes were developed through a mixture of inductive and deductive approaches to analysis. Initial themes related to previous life experience, expectations of participation, and outcomes of participation were preconceived, but the analysis provided scope for an inductive approach to formulate additional themes.
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Team/Investigators
Dr Dannielle Post (University of South Australia), Dr Amy Baker (University of South Australia), Suzana Freegard (University of South Australia), Professor Gaynor Parfitt (University of South Australia), Associate Professor Steven Milanese (University of South Australia)
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Funding Body
This study was funded by the Hospital Research Foundation, Grant Number 2017-01-TRH-Retro, Grant Recipient Professor Gaynor Parfitt. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
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Expected Completion Date
30 October 2023
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Contribution
The authors wish to thank Invictus Pathways Program participants who gave their time and shared their experiences.
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Article Identifier
doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287228
