Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society

Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309489539
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
The U.S. military has been continuously engaged in foreign conflicts for over two decades. The strains that these deployments, the associated increases in operational tempo, and the general challenges of military life affect not only service members but also the people who depend on them and who support them as they support the nation â€" their families. Family members provide support to service members while they serve or when they have difficulties; family problems can interfere with the ability of service members to deploy or remain in theater; and family members are central influences on whether members continue to serve. In addition, rising family diversity and complexity will likely increase the difficulty of creating military policies, programs and practices that adequately support families in the performance of military duties. Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society examines the challenges and opportunities facing military families and what is known about effective strategies for supporting and protecting military children and families, as well as lessons to be learned from these experiences. This report offers recommendations regarding what is needed to strengthen the support system for military families.

Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society

Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309489539
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 385

Get Book Here

Book Description
The U.S. military has been continuously engaged in foreign conflicts for over two decades. The strains that these deployments, the associated increases in operational tempo, and the general challenges of military life affect not only service members but also the people who depend on them and who support them as they support the nation â€" their families. Family members provide support to service members while they serve or when they have difficulties; family problems can interfere with the ability of service members to deploy or remain in theater; and family members are central influences on whether members continue to serve. In addition, rising family diversity and complexity will likely increase the difficulty of creating military policies, programs and practices that adequately support families in the performance of military duties. Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society examines the challenges and opportunities facing military families and what is known about effective strategies for supporting and protecting military children and families, as well as lessons to be learned from these experiences. This report offers recommendations regarding what is needed to strengthen the support system for military families.

Military Life Stress, Personal Resources, and Birth in the Military Community

Military Life Stress, Personal Resources, and Birth in the Military Community PDF Author: Kathleen Mauro
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description


Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan

Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309152852
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 193

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Book Description
Nearly 1.9 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. Many service members and veterans face serious challenges in readjusting to normal life after returning home. This initial book presents findings on the most critical challenges, and lays out the blueprint for the second phase of the study to determine how best to meet the needs of returning troops and their families.

Promoting Psychological Resilience in the U.S. Military

Promoting Psychological Resilience in the U.S. Military PDF Author: Lisa S. Meredith
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833058169
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
As U.S. service members deploy for extended periods on a repeated basis, their ability to cope with the stress of deployment may be challenged. Many programs are available to encourage and support psychological resilience among service members and families. However, little is known about these programs' effectiveness. This report reviews resilience literature and programs to identify evidence-informed factors for promoting resilience.

Family Resilience in the Military

Family Resilience in the Military PDF Author: Sarah O. Meadows
Publisher: Rand Corporation
ISBN: 0833084534
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 55

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Book Description
Most leaders in the Department of Defense (DoD) agree that family resilience is an important construct, yet DoD does not have a standard definition. The authors of this report review existing definitions of family resilience and offer a candidate definition for DoD use. They also review models of family resilience, identify key family resilience factors, and make recommendations for how DoD can manage family-resilience programs and policies.

Healing Stress in Military Families

Healing Stress in Military Families PDF Author: Lorie T. DeCarvalho
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1118218639
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 272

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Book Description
Eight practical steps to help military families through the unique issues they face When service members return, it's up to their families to try to soften their re-entry into civilian life. Healing Stress in Military Families offers practical help for military families coping with the myriad repercussions of their loved ones' duties, from their deployment to their return home. Based on the latest scientific research and best practice guidelines as well as the authors' experience treating veterans and their families Healing Stress in Military Families offers answers for the stress that comes not only from war, but also from other related issues, including deployment and redeployment, relocation, and reunion. Healing Stress in Military Families provides: Evidence-based advice for clinicians helping military families with adjustment problems by facilitating communication, reconnection, and growth "Making It Real" exercises for clinicians to employ with families in sessions "Talking Points" that explore how to guide the family in their healing process Homework handouts and between-session "Taking Action" exercises for families that reinforce and build on skills and information introduced in sessions Compassionately written with the military family at heart, Healing Stress in Military Families provides the information, tools, and skills that will empower these courageous families to more easily heal and become stronger and more resilient as they go through life. "This practical workbook will help others understand the highly complex factors that cause dysfunction within military families. Using a clear format that avoids jargon, providers and families can work through the eight practical steps that focus on reconnecting the family and improving resiliency. This excellent book will surely become core material for anyone interested in working with military families." Bradford Felker, MD, Director, Mental Health Primary Care Service, VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Washington School of Medicine "Healing Stress in Military Families: Eight Steps to Wellness is a timely, practical publication that recognizes and addresses the impact of traumatic stress on countless 'hidden victims,' our military families. The focus on empowerment and goal-directedness versus illness, disorder and dysfunction is so needed today." Mark D. Lerner, PhD, President, American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress

Parenting and Children's Resilience in Military Families

Parenting and Children's Resilience in Military Families PDF Author: Abigail H. Gewirtz
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319125567
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
This reference examines the wide-ranging impact of military life on families, parenting, and child development. It examines the complex family needs of this diverse population, especially as familiar issues such as trauma, domestic violence, and child abuse manifest differently than in civilian life. Expert contributors review findings on deployed mothers, active-duty fathers, and other military parents while offering evidence for interventions and prevention programs to enhance children’s healthy adjustment in this highly structured yet uncertain context. Its emphasis on resource and policy improvements keeps the book focused on the evolution of military families in the face of future change and challenges. Included in the coverage: Impacts of military life on young children and their parents. Parenting school-age children and adolescents through military deployments. Parenting in military families faced with combat-related injury, illness, or death. The special case of civilian service members: supporting parents in the National Guard and Reserves. Interventions to support and strengthen parenting in military families: state of the evidence. Military parenting in the digital age: existing practices, new possibilities. Addressing a major need in family and parenting studies, Parenting and Children’s Resilience in Military Families is necessary reading for scholars and practitioners interested in parenting and military family research.

Military Life

Military Life PDF Author: Thomas W. Britt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 0313015090
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 1071

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Book Description
With global commitments and combat duty, our armed forces face life-threatening challenges on a daily basis. However, less visible threats also impact the mental health of our military men and women. Experts examine challenges on the battlefield, such as women coming to terms with life after being prisoners of war, or soldiers dealing with mistakenly killing civilians. But life in the armed forces presents less dramatic, daily challenges. Away from the front lines, soldiers have to raise their families, sometimes as single parents. Children have to learn what it's like to be in a military family, and to make sense of war. Gay or lesbian officers cope with a don't ask, don't tell policy. An unprecedented range of contributors—military officers, medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, and professors—take us onto the bases and the battlefields and inside the minds of military personnel who face far greater challenges than most of us ever see in the headlines. These volumes also highlight factors that make members of the military resilient and stable, as well as programs and practices that can ease the psychological burdens of military personnel, families, and children. Readers can better understand how society views our military and military operations, and how each one of us can play a role in supporting our armed forces.

Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces

Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309260558
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Problems stemming from the misuse and abuse of alcohol and other drugs are by no means a new phenomenon, although the face of the issues has changed in recent years. National trends indicate substantial increases in the abuse of prescription medications. These increases are particularly prominent within the military, a population that also continues to experience long-standing issues with alcohol abuse. The problem of substance abuse within the military has come under new scrutiny in the context of the two concurrent wars in which the United States has been engaged during the past decade-in Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom) and Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation New Dawn). Increasing rates of alcohol and other drug misuse adversely affect military readiness, family readiness, and safety, thereby posing a significant public health problem for the Department of Defense (DoD). To better understand this problem, DoD requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) assess the adequacy of current protocols in place across DoD and the different branches of the military pertaining to the prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs). Substance Use Disorders in the U.S. Armed Forces reviews the IOM's task of assessing access to SUD care for service members, members of the National Guard and Reserves, and military dependents, as well as the education and credentialing of SUD care providers, and offers specific recommendations to DoD on where and how improvements in these areas could be made.

The 71F Advantage

The 71F Advantage PDF Author: National Defense University Press
Publisher: NDU Press
ISBN: 1907521658
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 529

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Book Description
Includes a foreword by Major General David A. Rubenstein. From the editor: "71F, or "71 Foxtrot," is the AOC (area of concentration) code assigned by the U.S. Army to the specialty of Research Psychology. Qualifying as an Army research psychologist requires, first of all, a Ph.D. from a research (not clinical) intensive graduate psychology program. Due to their advanced education, research psychologists receive a direct commission as Army officers in the Medical Service Corps at the rank of captain. In terms of numbers, the 71F AOC is a small one, with only 25 to 30 officers serving in any given year. However, the 71F impact is much bigger than this small cadre suggests. Army research psychologists apply their extensive training and expertise in the science of psychology and social behavior toward understanding, preserving, and enhancing the health, well being, morale, and performance of Soldiers and military families. As is clear throughout the pages of this book, they do this in many ways and in many areas, but always with a scientific approach. This is the 71F advantage: applying the science of psychology to understand the human dimension, and developing programs, policies, and products to benefit the person in military operations. This book grew out of the April 2008 biennial conference of U.S. Army Research Psychologists, held in Bethesda, Maryland. This meeting was to be my last as Consultant to the Surgeon General for Research Psychology, and I thought it would be a good idea to publish proceedings, which had not been done before. As Consultant, I'd often wished for such a document to help explain to people what it is that Army Research Psychologists "do for a living." In addition to our core group of 71Fs, at the Bethesda 2008 meeting we had several brand-new members, and a number of distinguished retirees, the "grey-beards" of the 71F clan. Together with longtime 71F colleagues Ross Pastel and Mark Vaitkus, I also saw an unusual opportunity to capture some of the history of the Army Research Psychology specialty while providing a representative sample of current 71F research and activities. It seemed to us especially important to do this at a time when the operational demands on the Army and the total force were reaching unprecedented levels, with no sign of easing, and with the Army in turn relying more heavily on research psychology to inform its programs for protecting the health, well being, and performance of Soldiers and their families."