The AHA supports "Joining Forces," an initiative that spotlights hospitals that work with the military to support soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. As part of that effort, AHA News highlights on a recurring basis how hospitals are reaching out to returning veterans and their families.

You don't often see members of the armed forces battling each other, but that happens just about every week on a hardwood court in Washington, DC. Wheelchair basketball for wounded warriors is part of the Paralympic Military program that is sponsored in the Washington, DC area by the District's National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH), Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda (MD) Naval Medical Center.

The program offers service members recovering from a major traumatic injury a chance to participate in adapted sports four times each week. NRH's recreational therapists reintroduce soldiers to physical activity, like wheelchair basketball, as they reintegrate them into civilian life.

"We owe these men and women our gratitude," says Heather Campbell, NRH's Paralympic military coordinator. "One of the best things we can do is to help them regain life balance." Tapping into a service member's support network—friends, family and neighbors—and connecting them with local programs is key to making sure fitness lasts a lifetime, she says. "We handle each soldier's needs case-by-case and emphasize flexibility," she says.

Therapists conduct on-site instruction and, upon discharge, connect soldiers with rehabilitative programs in their home towns. Soldiers benefit from routine recreation and those interested can compete locally and nationally for the U.S. National Paralympic team. The next International Paralympic Games are in Vancouver in 2010 and London in 2012.

Charlie Hueber, USOC's chief of paralympics, says that while the immediate goal of the Paralympic Military program is to promote physical activity, "Other outcomes we see include better overall health, fewer hospitalizations and secondary medical conditions, higher self-esteem and better post-discharge employment results."

The USOC sponsors the program through annual grants that provide equipment, trainers and travel expenses. Nationwide, more than 5,700 soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan participate in Paralympic sports like rowing, basketball, hand cycling, volleyball and a host of others.

Ed Eckenhoff, NRH's founder and president emeritus, says the hospital's partnership with the USOC and the Paralympic Military program is an extension of its ongoing commitment to wounded soldiers.

"Through our long-standing relationship with the Department of Defense, we develop technology that benefits both soldiers and persons with disabilities," Eckenhoff says. "We are particularly honored to collaborate with the USOC as the local sports program that helps injured service members participate in adapted recreation and sports activities."