301417
Environmental strain on military-connected youth: The need for reflective and dynamic patient-centered military care
Description: Military youth report stressors in multiple studies and interviews done by adolescent medicine specialists. Interviews organized into support DVDs have since been distributed across all major military branches nationally and internationally via Military One Source. Moreover, the military adolescent school-based health initiative at Joint Base Lewis McChord has fostered access to health services at school-based medical homes. Advantages include: less school time missed and less work time missed by the parent/guardian, in addition to facilitating provider-patient confidentiality. Appointment no-show rates are reduced in the school-based clinics compared to the hospital-based clinic on base (0% vs 15%, respectively). Population health databases are maintained to ensure wellness and chronic health surveillance is achieved.
Lessons learned: Military youth demonstrate improved outcomes with civilian and military providers when their providers understand their unique stressors in a school-based environment. Military youth are resilient and their providers benefit from a complete view of the major psychosocial determinants at work in their life environment.
Recommendations: Deployment and relocation-related stress may manifest as somatization in adolescents and may be missed by providers who are unfamiliar with military culture. We recommend engaging with military youth by viewing the support DVDs, expanding military school-based initiatives to provide consistent, quality care in a patient-centered medical home, and broadening the school-based clinic system to regional bases.
Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and preventionImplementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Provision of health care to the public
Learning Objectives:
Evaluate the role of familial military service on adolescent well-being.
Identify the unique contributors to wellness/illness in military-connected adolescents.
Describe the role of youth serving professionals in patient-centered care for military adolescents.
Keyword(s): School-Based Health, Children and Adolescents
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am a medical student researcher participating in a clinical pediatrics rotation at Madigan Healthcare System. In this role I am analyzing data from the military adolescent school-based healthcare initiatives founded by LTC Lemmon, in addition to analyzing data about the support DVDs used to promote military youth heath nationally.
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.