{"id":7441,"date":"2025-03-31T11:57:12","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T15:57:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carefarmingnetwork.org\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=7441"},"modified":"2025-09-22T07:33:40","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:33:40","slug":"healing-hives-exploring-the-effects-of-beekeeping-on-veteran-mental-health-and-quality-of-life","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/carefarmingnetwork.org\/resource\/healing-hives-exploring-the-effects-of-beekeeping-on-veteran-mental-health-and-quality-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing Hives: Exploring the Effects of Beekeeping on Veteran Mental Health and Quality of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Abstract<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Veterans experience higher risks of suicide and mental health disorders due to the traumas of military service, disabilities, and the difficulties of reassimilation into civilian life. Therapeutic interventions using human-animal interactions have shown promising results in reducing many risk factors affecting veterans\u2019 quality of life. This quality improvement project sought to consider if veterans participating in a recreational therapy program focused on beekeeping and administered by the Department of Veteran Affairs would experience quality of life improvements using a standardized EQ-5D-5L assessment. Our results indicate significant changes in mobility, anxiety\/depression, and overall health for veterans participating in beekeeping as a recreational therapy. Implications for practice and future research are presented.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Authors:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Valerie Carter<\/strong> Manchester VA Medical Center, New Hampshire<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Adam Ingrao<\/strong> Michigan Food and Farming Systems<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Jessie L. Bennett<\/strong> University of New Hampshire<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Christine Gould<\/strong> Manchester VA Medical Center, New Hampshire<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7443,"template":"","tags":[13,245,246],"topic":[56,57],"class_list":["post-7441","resource","type-resource","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-animal-assisted-intervention","tag-beekeeping","tag-veterans","topic-benefits-of-care-farming","topic-care-farming-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Healing Hives: Exploring the Effects of Beekeeping on Veteran Mental Health and Quality of Life - Care Farming Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/carefarmingnetwork.org\/resource\/healing-hives-exploring-the-effects-of-beekeeping-on-veteran-mental-health-and-quality-of-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Healing Hives: Exploring the Effects of Beekeeping on Veteran Mental Health and Quality of Life - Care Farming Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Abstract Veterans experience higher risks of suicide and mental health disorders due to the traumas of military service, disabilities, and the difficulties of reassimilation into civilian life. 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