221225 Military Men, Women, and Their Families : Need for Off-Base Reacclimational Services and Resources

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 : 5:00 PM - 5:15 PM

Scott Thomas Williams, Vice President , Men's Health Network, Washington, DC
     
Stress in the military is a well accepted concern. It is of particular concern and intensity for military members and their families as they prepare to deploy to areas of hostility or return from areas of hostility. Multiple deployments also impact the stress and mental health of our military men, women, and families. While the military is doing all it can to address the issue, the stigma of a perceived adverse impact on careers is recognized as an impediment for many career military personnel to seek and fully utilize on-base or base referred resources.

This session would explore the opportunity for community based outreach and service organizations to assist military men, women, and families in reacclimating while potentially providing various services. Since these proposed services would be outside of the military sphere of influence, observation and referral would provide military men, women, and their families with a safe harbor for community based activities and resources to help with pre and post deployment stresses. This would provide military personnel and their families with a sense of connectedness with the world outside of the military post. A targeted geographic approach which would be representative of military men, women, and families throughout the nation, while addressing cultural, ethnic, gender, and logistical issues and sensitivities would be considered.

Particular attention would be paid to those military men, women, and their families, who have returned (reintegration) from assignments and deployments from areas where they have been subjected to extraordinary hardship or stress, particularly combat areas. Also, military men, women, and their families who are preparing for assignment or deployment (separation) to areas where they will be subject to extraordinary hardship or stress would also be a focus. This panel discussion would discuss changes in families, children, and friends and how those changes, as well as their experience in the service, alter their own life afterward.

This presentation will provide attendees an overview of recent studies of stress and hardship on military men, women, and their families as well as highlight current programs, outreach, and initiatives related to the issue. The importance of recognizing the impact of war on servicemen/women and their families, and the need for ongoing support from the wider community, will be discussed. The panel presentation will address existing community networks and potential channels/outlets and partners to implement impactful public health education strategies, interventions and programs for military men, women, and their families.

Learning Areas:
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Epidemiology
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning
Public health administration or related administration
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
* Demonstrate the need for off-base community outreach and service organizations to provide recreational and reacclimational services. * Define the stress and hardship faced by military men, women, and their families who have returned from assignments and deployments to combat and other areas. * Formulate the need for immediate and comprehensive intervention for military men, women, and their families as they prepare to deploy to areas of hostility or return from areas of hostility. * Explain the value of and potential for a proposed safe harbor for military men, women, and their families outside of the military sphere of influence. * Identify plausible channels in which to engineer these reacclimational services and resources

Keywords: Veterans' Health, Stress

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: 2009 137th Annual Meeting Oral Presentation (Tuesday, November 10, 2009: 2:30 PM) - #212927 "Suicide among US veterans: Need for increased and collaborative community intervention, education, and awareness." - Poster Presentation at 136th APHA Annual Meeting & Exposition: "State Public Health Department access to care, health information, and education outreach to families and diverse communities: A national phone and direct mail survey" Professional Publications and Engagements: • Peer Reviewer and Contributing Author – American Journal of Men’s Health (SAGE Publication) • Scott Williams, BA and Salvatore Giorgianni, PharmD. Survey of State Public Health Department Resources for Men and Boys: Identification of an Inadvertent and Remediatable Service and Health Disparity. Am J Mens Health OnlineFirst, published on January 21, 2010 • Williams, S.T. (2009). Social Determinants of Men’s Health. International Journal of Men’s Health & Gender an Elsevier publication. • International Men’s Health Policy Review – United States of America Men’s Health Contribution (13 countries) • Williams, S. T., & Bruno, A (2007). Worksite wellness programs: What is working? American Journal of Men’s Health, 1 (Number 2), 154-156. • Williams, S. T. (2007). The value of prevention for American men and their families. American Journal of Men’s Health, 1 (Number 3), 228-229. • Williams, S.T. & Fairfax, S (2007). Smoking as a Man’s Issue: Making the Case. American Journal of Men’s Health. • World Congress on Men’s Health – “Social Determinants of Men’s Health” – Vienna, Austria (October 2009) • Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference – “Prostate Cancer Screening: Impact of Public Policy” (2009) • Congressional Briefing: US House of Representatives – Prevention and Men’s Health (September 2008) • Guest Lecturer at University of Indiana – Graduate Health Communication Class (Spring 2009) • Lecturer at University of Maryland – American Medical Student Association – “ Healthcare Reform” (Summer 2009) • Rotary International South Central Pennsylvania – Global Health Progress Polio Eradication Efforts (July 2009) • United States Department of Education – “Men’s Health Impacting Family Health” – Washington, DC (August 2009) • State Symposia on Men’s Health (TN, MA, MD, NC, FL, TX, LA, DC) – “Men’s Health Landscape” (2005-2008) • Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – “Prevention and Men’s Health” (September 2007) • Massachusetts Medical Society – “The Politics of Men’s Health” (May 2007) • World Congress on Men’s Health – “The Politics of Men’s Health” (September 2005 & 2007, Vienna, Austria) • Winnebago Tribe/Indian Health Service – “Prevention for Men and Their Families” (June 2007) • State Medicaid Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committees (New York & Virginia) – “ED and co-morbidities” (Oct. 2006) • United States Senate – “Prostate Cancer Awareness and Education Efforts within Federal Government”(June 2005)
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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