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Mission Himalaya has a lasting positive impact on the lives of the military veteran participants
A five-year longevity study was implemented by staff from the Carnegie School of Sport into the 2018 Mission Himalaya expedition.
This expedition, organised by Carnegie Great Outdoors and led by Dave Bunting, Outdoor Manager at Carnegie Great Outdoors, involved health coaching alongside the day to day trekking on the expedition by the mountaineering leaders. This aimed to facilitate meaningful and personal support to the veteran participants to help them in their lives beyond the four-week expedition.
This use of health coaching to support personal development on a high altitude expedition, coupled with a research study of this magnitude, is believed to be the first of its kind.
Senior Research Fellow Dr Chris Kay was immersed within the team as the expedition researcher with the specific role of managing the project and ensuring the data collected was of sufficient quality and relevance.
Dr Chris Kay said: “Our research findings support the prolonged use of health coaching, focused on self-determination, to encourage experiential transfer back into what had often been “troubled” daily lives.
“This expedition, like every Battle Back experience, was designed to make a significant and positive impact on everyone’s perception of their own personal recovery and growth. It was important that any immersive experiences reflect the participants’ personal circumstances so that any change can be real and positive.”
An anonymised reviewer of the research work said: “It was a fantastic paper and I applaud the authors for what they do for a very deserving population!”
Carnegie Great Outdoors provides multi-day courses to aid recovery and personal development of wounded, injured and sick serving armed forces personnel, as well as veterans and junior soldiers on behalf of The Royal British Legion.
These programmes have a research component integrated into their design. This generates credible evidence documenting the influence the courses have on participants’ recovery, personal growth and how that shapes their future.
Global research literature has highlighted the considerable, yet untapped and under investigated potential of nature based physical activity within injured military populations, that can contribute to long-term recovery and rehabilitation. Particularly through programmes that support the enhancement of well-being over time.
This is further illustration of Leeds Beckett University's high-quality and high impact research which was recognised by the results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021.
The REF 2021 results showed that 53% of the university’s submission was rated 3* and 4* and therefore considered internationally excellent or world-leading.
Read more about the university’s research with impact on our website.