Ischemic heart disease is the one of the common lifestyle-related diseases in Japan. Sports programs may improve QOL of patients, and help them achieve self-actualization. The purpose of this paper was to review the sports program available for patients with ischemic heart disease in Japan. Since 1981, collaborative investigations regarding group sports rehabilitation for patients with heart disease have been conducted in universities. They concluded that in addition to emotional and psychological support, their sports cardiac rehabilitation is safe and effective in improving exercise tolerance and cardiac perfusion. For patients in the chronic phase, programs in the suburbs are useful to enliven their lives and rehabilitation. A ski program trial in patients with chronic ischemic heart disease was conducted at a popular ski area (Shimomura et al., 1998). Walk skiing and slide skiing were programmed, and the trial was considered to have been completed safely by all patients. Even in cold environments in winter, sports programs seem to be effective for these patients. The safe and effective use of recreational sports should be examined further for these patients. It is necessary to promote sports and welfare information distribution by public authority.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the muscle strength improvement exercise intervention upon ADL and subjective well-being scale in elderly local resident. Thirteen men and women volunteered as subjects for this study, whose average age being 80.7±7.2 years. Four kinds of exercise equipment were used for the experiment. As a routine program, the following procedure took place: dosage of 5 to 10kg, repetition of 10 to 40 times, frequency of 1 to 2 times/week. Then questionnaire surveys on subjective well-being and Activity of Daily Living (ADL) were administered for three times according to the intervention process, at the time before they participated in the training, 3 months later and 6 months later. The Wilcoxon signed rank test revealed that subjective well-being had increased significantly between baseline and 3 months later (p<0.05). However, it had not increased significantly between baseline and 6 months later. And ADL had not changed during the period of this study. These results suggest that the muscle strength improvement exercise could be one of the reasons that can lead their ADL to be maintained and subjective well-being to be uplifted for these elderly people in local resident.

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This study was performed in 2,049 elderly inhabitants aged 70-84 years in Miyagino Ward (T district) of Sendai City as an urban area of Miyagi Prefecture for the following purposes: (1) proposal of a screening method using Motor Fitness Scale (MFS) that can be performed in communities for the development of a more effective fall prevention program, (2) appointment of leaders who are often spontaneously produced in social gatherings to be "elderly promotion leaders" and the development/practice of the program with these leaders as cores for the program to continue for a long period, and (3) clarification of the effects of intervention using this program. The degree of self-rated health, the frequency of participation in events of the neighborhood association, the amount of regular exercise, and the score of TMIG Index were significantly lower in subjects with an MFS score&le;10 than in those with an MFS score&ge;11. These results suggested the usefulness of screening using the MFS score. The major contents of the class were original fall prevention exercise for T district, recreation, and group work. Elderly promotion leaders mainly gave instructions and managed the class. After intervention for 6 months, the MFS score, and the score of TMIG Index significantly decreased only in the group who did not participate in the class. Concerning events of the neighborhood association, the risk significantly increased only in the non-particination group.

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The purpose of this study was to clarify the process that Ludwig Guttmann introduced sport into rehabilitation for patients with the spinal cord damage. This study referred an article from 'The Cord' magazine, published for well-being of the patients with that damage. As the director of the National Spinal Center in the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1944, Ludwig Guttmann developed an innovative rehabilitation, training abdominal muscles physically to accelerate dejection. Based on English daily leisure activity, sport was adapted as part of recreation for the patients as well. They were able to continue sport even after leaving the hospital and then acquire the skill of sports so that it was possible to compete with the able-bodied people, and the inclusion through sports was carried out. According to Ludwig Guttmann, archery was an ideal sport for the spinal cord damaged. Archery had showed good effects on developing muscles like abdominal. Moreover, they could interact with the able-bodied people through archery. The Stoke Mandeville Games started in commemoration of the special-made bus for the patients to the Stoke Mandeville Hospital on 29th July, 1948. The record of archery has been improved dramatically. Sports, archery especially, have changed gradually from mere rehabilitation to game.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of longitudinal mental training in enhancing the psychological competitive ability of a wheelchair athlete. A male wheelchair athlete (onset of disability-more than 5 years ago; history of athletic sport-3 years; type of disability-spinal cord injury) underwent mental training under a sport mental training consultant. The athlete was monitored both quantitatively and qualitatively over a period spanning 21 months. The effects of the mental training were estimated from the following aspects: (1) the Diagnostic Inventory of Psychological Competitive Ability for Athletes (DIPCA. 3); (2) the records pertaining to goal setting, perceived achievement, and the athlete's opinion; (3) and the interview on the requirements of mental training, the effects of mental training on athletic sports, and so on. The quantitative results indicated that mental training was beginning to take effect gradually. On the other hand, the qualitative results revealed that the subject perceived positive changes from the beginning of mental training. Thus, mental training was perceived as beneficial in enhancing psychological competitive ability and level of performance. In view of these findings, sport mental training consultants and coaches may wish to consider both the quantitative and qualitative approach to estimate the effect of mental training.

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The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of goal setting and the mediating role of self-efficacy in the relationship with performance scores, in selected wheelchair basketball skills. Male wheelchair basketball players (n=36) of mean age 29.3 years (SD=6.3) participated in the study. Participants were assigned to two groups, the goal-setting group (n=18) and the control group (n=18). Participants performed three wheelchair basketball tasks (passing, shooting, and dribbling) and three trials were performed for each task. Prior to the second and third trials, the goal-setting group participants set personal goals for each of the three tasks. In addition, considering the passing task they completed self-efficacy scales. Separate 2 x 3 (Group x Trial) repeated measures analyses of variance revealed significant interaction and main effects for the passing and dribbling tasks. The participants who set personal goals improved significantly their performance in the passing and dribbling tasks. Linear regression analysis showed that self-efficacy partially mediated the relationship between pre and post-intervention performance scores in the passing task. Results were discussed in terms of the usefulness of the goal setting method and the conditions under which goal setting is effective for wheelchair basketball players.

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TI (female) had a hemorrhage of the right brain at 50 years of age. The cerebral hemorrhage resulted in loss of autokinesis and sensation on the left side of her body, and aphasia. Two years and nine months after the onset the patient began participating in horse riding and has continued since for the past two years. The program began with the patient being led slowly around the riding arena on the horse. As she became accustomed to riding the horse, she used the rein to steer the horse in a direction and to advance and directed the horse to start and stop. Active horse riding for two years has resulted in the recovery of autokinetic function and sensory functions at the affected extremities and alleviation of aphasia. Moreover, she is now able to lead a very active daily life. Horse riding for the physically handicapped is a very superior sport therapy for patients with sequelae following cerebral hemorrhage that can maximally improve the patients abilities and motivation.

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