Stress management through therapeutic recreation in the Botswana Defence Force

[摘要] Military staff are repeatedly exposed to stressful and unpleasant traumatic lifeevents. These can cause psychological injury, leading to mental and emotionalstress. The stigma of mental health problems in military settings runs deeper than incivil society. Being admitted with mental health problems while serving can be acareer stopper, but at times can also be associated with cowardice or malingering.It is the primary responsibility of the military to maintain and promote highmilitary/combat readiness among staff. The change in focus of modern militaryforces, such as the Botswana Defence Force (BDF), with units being deployed moreoften, places greater demands on troops. Such operations call for increased trainingexercises, planning sessions and equipment inspections. Training emphasizesdiscipline and integrity as the core values of the BDF. These form a foundation forhealthy and successful coping strategies. The morale of employees is the starting point for measuring their wellness. Morale inthe military is embedded in the fitness programs. These are biased towards militarytraining, creating physical fitness, mental alertness and the qualities of militarypreparedness. The programs are normally involuntary, mandated through thecommander, and form part of a soldier's military duties. Military recreation, moraleand welfare programs were introduced as a way to provide soldiers with theopportunity to relax and rejuvenate. Recreation serves as a powerful tool forachieving an optimal experience, motivating people to change and improve their health and wellness. The problem identified for this study was that members of the BDF were exposed tosituations in a military context, as well as in their personal lives, which caused stress.It was postulated that BDF members had little knowledge or the resources to utilizeappropriate recreation-related coping strategies. The study aimed primarily toexplore the use of sport and recreation activities in military settings as means toreduce and manage stress. To achieve this goal, it was necessary first to determinethe current sport and recreation participation of BDF staff members, then to assesstheir existing stress levels, their overall psychological well-being, and anydysfunctional behaviours resulting from stress. On the basis of these findings, aTherapeutic Recreation Stress Management Intervention Model was proposed,designed to reduce stress and promote the psychological well-being of BDFmembers.A survey was carried out using a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used tosummarize the collected data, offering a basic description of the data throughfrequency distributions, measures of central tendency, variances and relationships.Inferential statistics were used to draw conclusions from the data collected, givingthe various factors.The results revealed that the BDF was a male-dominated institution, recruitingsoldiers between the ages of 18 and 44, most of whom had some level of education.Most of the staff members came from the lower ranks and had experienced one ormore deployments since being recruited into the military. The results further indicated that BDF staff members participated in sport and recreation activities,reflecting an active and healthy lifestyle, with satisfactory levels of involvement.Analysis of stress responses revealed that members experienced stress and that thiswas related not just to operational or non-operational military stressors but also topersonal stressors resulting from their social, financial or emotional conditions.Members of the BDF did not receive the necessary social support from familymembers and friends to cope with these stressors.The findings on stress in relation to sport and recreation participation revealed thatBDF members were intrinsically motivated to embrace healthy lifestyles which couldcontribute to lower levels of stress. This could even lead to a decrease in stress,supporting the literature which indicates that engaging in physical activities, as partof living a healthy lifestyle, might lead to a reduction in stress levels. The results on the stress-coping measures used by BDF members revealed thatrecreation activities were deliberately used to cope with stress. Although physicalexercise was used as a way of coping with stress, sedentary recreation activitieswere more prevalent among BDF members. Positive stress-coping measures wereadopted by respondents, contrary to the findings of previous studies which indicatedthat military staff adopted dysfunctional behaviour as a coping measure (e.g.excessive drinking) that formed part of the military culture. The stress-coping abilitiesof BDF members differed in terms of personal and military demographics from thoseof previous studies, posting a new contribution to military literature. The resultsfurther revealed that BDF members were not sufficiently skilled in coping with stressduring military training.This study concluded that the Botswana Defence Force is no different from othermilitary forces, experiencing operational and non-operational stress, as well aspersonal stress, which need to be addressed. Recommendations were made forfurther research on stress in military contexts and further guidelines were suggestedto the BDF on the use of sport and recreation, together with more specifictherapeutic recreation, as ways to reduce stress. A Therapeutic Recreation StressManagement Intervention Model was recommended for further testing in the BDF, aswell as in other military forces.

[发布机构] University of Pretoria