Coming all the way home: integrative community care for those who serve

This project describes the programming and evaluation of Coming Home Project (CHP) retreats that address the mental, emotional, spiritual, and relationship challenges experienced by those affected by military service and deployments. Three types of retreats held for veterans, service members and their families, as well as professional service providers, were evaluated. Original program-evaluation measures were administered to elicit feedback from participants and facilitators to optimize the intervention, and to evaluate whether the experimental and learning objectives of retreat components were achieved. Data analyses reveal statistically significant reductions in stress and isolation, as well as improvements in relaxation and hope, for all retreat participants. Implications for the success of this type of innovative, resilience-based, community programming are discussed. Future directions are suggested for further research, replicability of these services in other locations, and the incorporation of CHP retreats into existing government programs and services.