摘要 :
Military life presents a variety of challenges to military families, including frequent separations and relocations as well as the risks that service members face during deployment; however, many families successfully navigate the...
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Military life presents a variety of challenges to military families, including frequent separations and relocations as well as the risks that service members face during deployment; however, many families successfully navigate these challenges. Despite a recent emphasis on family resilience, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) does not have a standard and universally accepted definition of family resilience. A standard definition is a necessary for DoD to more effectively assess its efforts to sustain and improve family resilience. RAND authors reviewed the literature on family resilience and, in this report, recommend a definition that could be used DoD-wide. The authors also reviewed DoD policies related to family resilience, reviewed models that describe family resilience and identified key family resilience factors, and developed several recommendations for how family-resilience programs and policies could be managed across DoD.
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Sleep is a vital health behavior, and lack of sleep is reliably and prospectively linked with a host of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, including an increased risk of depression, suicide, accidents and injuries, cardi...
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Sleep is a vital health behavior, and lack of sleep is reliably and prospectively linked with a host of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, including an increased risk of depression, suicide, accidents and injuries, cardiovascular morbidity, and mortality. Research has shown that sleep problems are prevalent in military populations particularly among servicemembers who have deployed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is perhaps not surprising, given that sleep problems are a common reaction to stress. Research further suggests that, for many servicemembers, sleep disturbances persist for months or even years after deployments have ended. Thus, it is critical to understand the individual- and system-level factors that contribute to the onset, persistence, and exacerbation of sleep problems, as well as the downstream consequences for servicemembers mental and physical health and operational readiness. However, no study to date has comprehensively examined the types of sleep problems servicemembers are experiencing, the programs available to servicemembers to promote healthy sleep and treat sleep disorders, or the policy-level factors that may contribute to servicemembers sleep health across the deployment cycle and specifically in the post-deployment period, when sleep problems may have lasting implications for servicemember resilience. To address these gaps, a team of researchers from the RAND National Defense Research Institute conducted reviews of the peer-reviewed academic literature and military policies and programs related to sleep.
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摘要 :
Sleep is a vital health behavior, and lack of sleep is reliably and prospectively linked with a host of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, including an increased risk of depression, suicide, accidents and injuries, cardi...
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Sleep is a vital health behavior, and lack of sleep is reliably and prospectively linked with a host of adverse mental and physical health outcomes, including an increased risk of depression, suicide, accidents and injuries, cardiovascular morbidity, and mortality. Research has shown that sleep problems are prevalent in military populations particularly among servicemembers who have deployed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which is perhaps not surprising, given that sleep problems are a common reaction to stress. Research further suggests that, for many servicemembers, sleep disturbances persist for months or even years after deployments have ended. Thus, it is critical to understand the individual- and system-level factors that contribute to the onset, persistence, and exacerbation of sleep problems, as well as the downstream consequences for servicemembers mental and physical health and operational readiness. However, no study to date has comprehensively examined the types of sleep problems servicemembers are experiencing, the programs available to servicemembers to promote healthy sleep and treat sleep disorders, or the policy-level factors that may contribute to servicemembers sleep health across the deployment cycle and specifically in the post-deployment period, when sleep problems may have lasting implications for servicemember resilience. To address these gaps, a team of researchers from the RAND National Defense Research Institute conducted reviews of the peer-reviewed academic literature and military policies and programs related to sleep. The research team also drew on both quantitative and qualitative data sources, collecting primary data on sleep problems and behaviors from a large sample (N = 1,957) of servicemembers across all Service branches and components; conducting interviews with health policymakers and personnel who work in military medical, operational, and training settings across the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).
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Despite the efforts of both the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Veterans Health Administration to enhance mental health services, many service members are not regularly seeking needed care when they have mental health sym...
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Despite the efforts of both the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Veterans Health Administration to enhance mental health services, many service members are not regularly seeking needed care when they have mental health symptoms or disorders. The research team hypothesized that mental health stigma may be a barrier to mental health treatment-seeking among military service members. Without appropriate treatment, these mental health symptoms or disorders can have wide-ranging and negative impacts on the quality of life and the social, emotional, and cognitive functioning of affected service members. The RAND National Defense Research Institute (NDRI) was asked to inventory and assess stigma-reduction strategies across both the services and DoD as a whole, to identify strengths and gaps that should be addressed. Informed by this inventory and feedback from an expert panel, NDRI developed a set of recommended priorities for stigma reduction. These recommendations answered such questions as Where are there gaps in stigma-reduction strategies. What stigma-reduction strategies seem particularly promising. Which of the current stigma-reduction strategies should be continued or enhanced. and Where is there duplication or overlap, or alternatively, conflicting messages among current strategies. This report summarizes the findings of this assessment. The contents of this report will be of particular interest to policymakers in DoD, other command and line leadership, and mental health providers and other professionals.
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The United States has been at war longer than any time in its history. While thousands have been wounded in these conflicts, advances in battlefield medicine mean many of our troops survive catastrophic wounds. The nature of many ...
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The United States has been at war longer than any time in its history. While thousands have been wounded in these conflicts, advances in battlefield medicine mean many of our troops survive catastrophic wounds. The nature of many of their wounds, however, means some require long-term caregiving support. The Elizabeth Dole Foundation commissioned RAND Corp to assess the needs of military caregivers, scan the services available to them, and identify how their needs are -- and are not -- being met. This report reviews existing research on the needs of caregivers in general, and assesses how lessons learned can be applied to military caregivers. We also present information gleaned from military caregivers themselves and from policymakers and program officials who either directly support, or advocate on behalf of, military caregivers. We provide a snapshot of the number and characteristics of military caregivers, the roles they serve, the physical and emotional impact caregiving has on their lives, and the resources available to them. Military caregivers tend to be younger women with dependent-age children, dealing with a different set of patient variables than the general caregiver population. Along with typical caregiver responsibilities, military caregivers also act as case managers navigating multiple health systems, advocates for new treatment, and financial and legal representatives. Many are also raising children and holding jobs outside the home. Studies indicate that caregivers in general suffer from physical strain and overall worse health and tend to put their own concerns behind those of the individuals for whom they are caring. Military caregivers suffer disproportionately from mental health problems and emotional distress. Many government programs are still in their infancy, and community resources are scattered and uncoordinated. Difficulties are presented by differing eligibility criteria, lack of access, and the way caregivers' needs change over time.
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The purpose of this report is to present findings based upon an independent assessment of the content, design, and dissemination of the Real Warriors Campaign. The assessment was conducted between January and August 2011. Launched...
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The purpose of this report is to present findings based upon an independent assessment of the content, design, and dissemination of the Real Warriors Campaign. The assessment was conducted between January and August 2011. Launched in 2009, the Real Warriors Campaign is a large-scale multimedia program designed to promote resilience, facilitate recovery, and support the reintegration of returning servicemembers, veterans, and their families. The campaign itself is fairly new; at the time of this report, there was the possibility of changes to the content or dissemination of the campaign because the contract to manage the campaign was being re-competed. Therefore, the assessment described in this report focuses on identifying which aspects of the campaign adhere to best practices for health communication campaigns and ways the campaign could improve both its content and its dissemination activities. To conduct the assessment we convened an expert panel, conducted telephone discussions with organizations that partnered with the campaign, performed a content analysis of the campaign s website, analyzed communication measures collected by the campaign, and reviewed relevant documents describing the design and development of the campaign.
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