Start Date
17-6-2025 9:00 AM
End Date
17-6-2025 10:30 AM
Abstract
Introduction Operational deployments, training injuries, and chronic illnesses have left many UK military veterans and personnel with physical injuries and psychological trauma, including PTSD, moral injury, depression, and anxiety. These challenges, often compounded by family breakdowns and loss of identity, create complex and multidimensional recovery needs. Sport has been identified as a powerful tool for recovery, with the Invictus Games serving as a global event designed to aid the recovery of military veterans, active personnel, and their families.
Methodology Our ethnographic study with Team UK during the 2023 Düsseldorf Invictus Games involved seven months of fieldwork, surveys, in-depth interviews, and multimedia documentation to explore how the Games support recovery.
Results A key finding revealed that participants’ understanding of recovery evolved through their experiences. Initially, recovery was perceived as “soldiering on” – a reflection of military conditioning to return to “normal” or work readiness. However, when this approach failed, participants often faced feelings of loss or chaos.
Participation in the Games facilitated a redefinition of recovery as a process of “rebirth” and “resilience.” This dynamic journey involved reimagining self-identity, transforming relationships, and finding new purposes in life. Recovery emerged not as a fixed endpoint but as an ongoing, fluctuating narrative.
Conclusions Our findings highlight how the Invictus Games enabled this reconceptualisation of recovery, and offer insights into how such approaches can better support military personnel and their families in navigating the complex pathways to healing and growth.
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Emma V.; Molnar, Gyozo; and Vinson, Don, "From Soldiering On to Rebirth and Resilience: How Disability Sport Reconceptualises Recovery Among Injured and Ill Military Veterans their Families" (2025). International Symposium of Adapted Physical Activity and International Symposium on Physical Activity and Visual Impairment and Deafblindness. 11.
https://sword.mtu.ie/isapa/2025/day2/11
From Soldiering On to Rebirth and Resilience: How Disability Sport Reconceptualises Recovery Among Injured and Ill Military Veterans their Families
Introduction Operational deployments, training injuries, and chronic illnesses have left many UK military veterans and personnel with physical injuries and psychological trauma, including PTSD, moral injury, depression, and anxiety. These challenges, often compounded by family breakdowns and loss of identity, create complex and multidimensional recovery needs. Sport has been identified as a powerful tool for recovery, with the Invictus Games serving as a global event designed to aid the recovery of military veterans, active personnel, and their families.
Methodology Our ethnographic study with Team UK during the 2023 Düsseldorf Invictus Games involved seven months of fieldwork, surveys, in-depth interviews, and multimedia documentation to explore how the Games support recovery.
Results A key finding revealed that participants’ understanding of recovery evolved through their experiences. Initially, recovery was perceived as “soldiering on” – a reflection of military conditioning to return to “normal” or work readiness. However, when this approach failed, participants often faced feelings of loss or chaos.
Participation in the Games facilitated a redefinition of recovery as a process of “rebirth” and “resilience.” This dynamic journey involved reimagining self-identity, transforming relationships, and finding new purposes in life. Recovery emerged not as a fixed endpoint but as an ongoing, fluctuating narrative.
Conclusions Our findings highlight how the Invictus Games enabled this reconceptualisation of recovery, and offer insights into how such approaches can better support military personnel and their families in navigating the complex pathways to healing and growth.