Does Doc Wayne Work?
Clinicians, students, coaches and teachers have seen dramatically better behaviors and mental health. A formal evaluation was conducted by The Trauma Center (Brookline, MA) in 2009 to determine more scientifically if the cognitive and socialization benefits of athletics in Doc Wayne significantly enhance mental health and behavior, enabling more rapid and successful community integration. The study, later published in the Journal of Family Violence in August 2013, found significant changes in Doc Wayne Athletes as compared with a control group.
- A decrease in aggressive behavioral incidents
- An increase in positive, pro-social behaviors
- Improvement in mental health measures
The principal investigator concluded that Doc Wayne, from the perspective of trauma-informed care, is a “gold standard” of adjunctive treatment. She further stated that Doc Wayne “stands with few peers nationwide which can demonstrate such significant impacts with this population.”
A follow-up program evaluation was conducted in 2012 finding effect sizes consistent with the effect sizes of individual psychotherapies tested using Randomized Clinical Trials.