Download or read book Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2019-10-25 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Serving Military Families written by Karen Rose Blaisure and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-08-11 with total page 410 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This text introduces readers to the unique culture of military families, their resilience, and the challenges of military life. Personal stories from nearly 70 active duty, reservists, veterans, and their families from all branches and ranks of the military bring their experiences to life. A review of the latest research, theories, policies, and programs better prepares readers for understanding and working with military families. Objectives, key terms, tables, figures, summaries, and exercises, including web based exercises, serve as a chapter review. The book concludes with a glossary. Readers learn about diverse careers within which they can make important differences for families. Engaging vignettes are featured throughout: Voices from the Frontline offer personal accounts of issues faced by actual program leaders, practitioners, researchers, policy makers, service members, veterans, and their families. Spotlight on Research highlights the latest studies on dealing with combat related issues. Best Practices review the optimal strategies used in the field. Tips from the Frontline offer suggestions from experienced personnel. Updated throughout including the latest demographic data, the new edition also features: -New chapter (9) on women service members that addresses the accomplishments and challenges faced by this population including sexual bias and assault, and combat-related psychological disorders. - New chapter (10) on veterans and families looks at veterans by era (e.g.WW2), each era’s signature issues and how those impact programs and policies, and challenges veterans may face such as employment, education, and mental and physical health issues. -Two new more comprehensive and cohesive chapters (11 & 12) review military and civilian programs, policies, and organizations that support military and veteran families. -Additional information on TBI and PTSD, the deployment cycle, stress and resilience, the possible negative effects of military life on families, same-sex couples and their children, and the recent increase in suicides in the military. -More applied cases and exercises that focus on providing services to military families. Intended as a text for advanced undergraduate or graduate courses on military families or as a supplement for courses on the family, marriage and family, stress and coping, or family systems taught in family science, human development, clinical or counseling psychology, sociology, social work, and nursing, this book also appeals to helping professionals who work with military and veteran families.

Download or read book Standing by written by Alison Buckholtz and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Navy wife provides an unexpectedly honest and moving account of her family's experiences during her husband's deployment to the Middle East.

Download or read book A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families written by Linda Hughes-Kirchubel and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-01-08 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This unique reference integrates knowledge culled from fifteen years of U.S. deployments to create an action plan for supporting military and veteran families during future conflicts. Its innovative ideas stretch beyond designated governmental agencies (e.g., Department of Defense, VA) to include participation from, and possible collaborations with, the business/corporate, academic, advocacy, and philanthropic sectors. Contributors identify ongoing and emerging issues affecting military and veteran families and recommend specific strategies toward expanding and enhancing current programs and policy. This proactive agenda also outlines new directions for mobilizing the research community, featuring strategies for addressing institutional challenges and improving access to critical data. Included in the coverage: Lessons learned inside the Pentagon. Merging reintegration streams for veterans and military families. The unique role of professional associations in assisting military families: a case study. Philanthropy for military and veteran families: challenges past, recommendations for tomorrow. Rules of engagement: media coverage of military families during war. Designing and implementing strategic research studies to support military families. A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families is of immediate usefulness to leaders, professionals, and future professionals in interdisciplinary academic, governmental, advocacy, and philanthropic areas of focus interested in the theoretical, practical, and real-life concerns and needs of military-affiliated families.

Download or read book Healing Stress in Military Families written by Lorie T. DeCarvalho and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-03-08 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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

Download or read book Military Families and War in the 21st Century written by Rene Moelker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-05-14 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the key issues that affect military families when soldiers are deployed overseas, focusing on the support given to military personnel and families before, during and after missions. Today’s postmodern armies are expected to provide social-psychological support both to their personnel in military operations abroad and to their families at home. Since the end of the Cold War and even more so after 9/11, separations between military personnel and their families have become more frequent as there has been a multitude of missions carried out by multinational task forces all over the world. The book focuses on three central questions affecting military families. First, how do changing missions and tasks of the military affect soldiers and families? Second, what is the effect of deployments on the ones left behind? Third, what is the national structure of family support systems and its evolution? The book employs a multidisciplinary approach, with contributions from psychology, sociology, history, anthropology and others. In addition, it covers all the services, Army, Navy/Marines, Air Force, spanning a wide range of countries, including UK, USA, Belgium, Turkey, Australia and Japan. At the same time it takes a multitude of perspectives such as the theoretical, empirical, reflective, life events (narrative) approach, national and the global, and uses approaches from different disciplines and perspectives, combining them to produce a volume that enhances our knowledge and understanding of military families. This book will be of much interest to students of military studies, sociology, war and conflict studies and IR/political science in general.

Download or read book Special Needs Families in the Military written by Janelle B. Moore and published by Government Institutes. This book was released on 2011 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Offers advice to families in the military who are raising a child with special needs, covering such topics as diagnoses, financial support, education, medical care, case management, insurance, and advocacy.

Download or read book Operation Military Family written by Michael John Rapacz Schindler and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Operation Military Family follows several families through their emotions, struggles, and victories prior to deployment, throughout deployment, and then life together back home. These couples tell how they overcame many of the challenges faced by today's military families.

Download or read book Called to Serve written by Penny Monetti and published by Our Daily Bread Publishing. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 2.9 million US military personnel—facing serious emotional and spiritual challenges—serve in more than 150 countries. Called to Serve pinpoints the needs of these military families. Real-life stories drawn from twenty-three years of military experience offer encouragement, humor, and tools to combat relational threats from the perspective of the “Warrior” (husband) and his “Spouse.” Thirty compelling, uplifting, and encouraging devotionals address the top identified stressors affecting military personnel and their families. Each account, tied to relevant Scripture, whets the spiritual palate, encouraging the reader to seek additional encouragement from the Bible.

Download or read book Raising Children in the Military written by Cheryl Lawhorne-Scott and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-05-08 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Military life places unique demands on military families with children including frequent moves, disruptions in schooling, family separation, health care issues, loss of friends, financial hardships, underemployment of military spouses, and the ever present threat of risk of injury or death of loved ones deployed. But learning how to navigate these challenges can help prepare families for those events as they arise. Here, the authors have assembled information about common problem areas and have included detailed information about solutions and resources available. The information in this guide has been carefully gathered from hundreds of sources and resources and includes the most up to date information about child services and benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, allowing serving members of the military with children to quickly access information that they need regarding all aspects of child care, from raising a family to education, and from coping with constant moves to grief counseling. It also covers other critical issues such as wellness, family solidarity, benefits, insurance and problems such as addiction and domestic violence. Readers will gain a better understanding of what child services and benefits are available and how to obtain them as well as secrets for successful relationships and family bonding.

Download or read book Deployment written by Karen Petty and published by Redleaf Press. This book was released on 2009-04-24 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Children with parents in the military face unfamiliar and complicated emotions. This comprehensive handbook is for civilians and military personnel who work with or care for children who experience separation through deployment, death, or divorce. Written by an internationally known, hands-on trainer and presenter in the field, this book contains theory-based, practice-driven strategies for handling separation and helping young through elementary-age children move forward and live full lives.

Download or read book Perinatal Mental Health and the Military Family written by Melinda A. Thiam and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-01-12 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This multi-disciplinary resource provides an overview of perinatal mental and physical health issues within the military population. Perinatal mental health has far-reaching implications for military readiness. The text provides insights to the effects of military culture on identification, evaluation, and treatment of perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and is an invaluable resource for military and civilian primary and behavioral health providers.

Download or read book Life After Deployment written by Karen Pavlicin and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "No one can totally prepare us for the emotional roller coaster deployments and reintegration brings, but this book will give you tools that will help the process immensely." -- Kathy Guzzon for Homefront United Network Life After Deployment captures the tender and moving stories of military families during their reunion. Service members and their spouses, parents, fiancées, and children share the joy and anxiety of homecoming, the adjustments of living together again, and how they coped with anger, depression, PTSD, injuries, grief, and other challenges. Some families had fairytale endings. Most worked hard to rebuild their relationships after much time and change. A few suffered great losses. These military families talk candidly about what their experience was really like, offering hope and advice to others who walk this journey. First Lady of the Marine Corps Recommended Reading List Foreword Reviews Book of the Year Awards - Finalist Military Writers Society of America - Gold Medal, Best Reference "...a must have for today's military families facing deployments." -- Alanna Schmidtke, North Dakota National Guard family support "I felt so guilty for a lot of the emotions I'd had during my husband's deployment and reunion. And now, we are going through it all again with our son. It's such a comfort to find out I'm not alone! I was incredibly touched by these stories. Thank you so much for blessing us with this book, your keen insights, and amazing honesty." --Julie LaBelle, military wife and mom

Download or read book Care of Military Service Members Veterans and Their Families written by Stephen J. Cozza and published by American Psychiatric Pub. This book was released on 2014-01-23 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Care of Military Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families serves a critical need, which has been highlighted by recent reported rates of combat-related stress disorders and traumatic brain injury, as well as increases in suicide rates among service members and veterans over the past decade and the distress and challenges faced by their children and families. More than 2.5 million Americans currently serve in the U.S. military on active duty, in the Reserves, or in the National Guard, and more than 20 million civilians are veterans. Although patients are viewed here in the context of military service, they seek health care in military, veteran, and civilian settings, and their mental health concerns are as diverse as those encountered in the civilian population. This book is designed for clinicians in all care settings and provides thorough coverage of U.S. military structures and cultures across the armed services, as well as detailed material on the particular mental health challenges faced by service members and their families. A full overview of the military lifestyle is provided, including the life cycle of the military (recruitment to retirement), service subcultures (Navy, Army, Marines, Air Force, and Reserve and Guard components), challenges of military life for service members and families (moves, deployments, etc.), and military mental health. Material on military culture provides insight for practitioners who may not be familiar with this population. The book focuses on collaborative care, particularly between the military health care system and the Veterans Administration, providing clinicians with strategies to mitigate stigma and other barriers to care through mental health service delivery in primary care settings. The incidence of traumatic brain injury among service members has increased because of the use of improvised explosive devices, and an entire chapter is devoted to diagnosing and treating these injuries as well as educating patients and their families on the condition. The families of service members face significant challenges, and several chapters are devoted to the needs of military children, the families of ill and injured service members and veterans, deployment-related care, and caring for the bereaved. The book's comprehensive review of resources available to military service members, veterans, and families both ensures high-quality care and reduces the workload for treating physicians. Care of Military Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families is an authoritative and much-needed addition to the mental health literature.

Download or read book Dinner with the Smileys written by Sarah Smiley and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2013-05-07 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fifty-two guests take turns filling a military father's chair at his family's dinner table while he serves his yearlong deployment. The week before Thanksgiving 2011, Dustin Smiley left for a yearlong military deployment. Soon after, his son Ford, eleven, invited Senator Susan Collins to fill his dad's chair at dinner. On January 3, 2012, Senator Collins came to dinner ... and brought brownies. So began Dinner with the Smileys, nationally syndicated columnist Sarah Smiley's fifty-two-week commitment to fill her husband's place at the family dinner table with interesting people--from schoolteachers to Olympians, professional athletes to famous authors, comedians to politicians--and unique role models for her three sons, even as she knows Dustin's seat cannot truly be "filled" until he is home again for the fifty-third dinner. Why dinner? Because dinnertime is often the loneliest time for people living alone. If houses and apartments were like dollhouses with one side totally exposed, Sarah says, we'd see plenty of people eating alone to the glow of a television. That was the fate Sarah feared for herself and her children during Dustin's absence. So she opened her home, and she and the kids sent invitations. And they found that a surprising number of people really are available for dinner. You just have to ask. In a time when popular culture leads us to believe that the family dinner table is dead, Dinner with the Smileys shows people that time spent with family, friends, and neighbors is still very much part of the American lifestyle.

Download or read book Military Deployment and its Consequences for Families written by Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: War-related separations challenge families in many ways. The worry and uncertainty associated with combat deployments provokes anxiety in family members left at home. Lengthy separations may challenge the personal, social, and economic coping resources of families at home. In this war, thanks to medical advances, many service members who previously would have died of their injuries are returning home to live long, although altered lives. As a result, families are facing the additional challenge of assisting service members who have experienced amputation, traumatic brain injury, and psychological wounds. These challenges are faced not only by service members in the active component of the armed forces, but also by service members in the National Guard and Reserves. In response, the Department of Defense has launched unprecedented efforts to support service members and families before, during and after deployment in all locations of the country as well as in remote locations. These support efforts are focused not only on medical care, but also mental health care and logistical support. Research about families and war tends to move forward in fits and starts associated with major conflicts, and there is currently an increasing flow of family research moving into the scientific domain. Military Families and the Aftermath of Deployment focuses heavily on the aftermath of deployment for families. It is the first compilation of such chapters released in relation to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and includes contributions from leading researchers from diverse disciplines and arenas, including universities, the Veterans Administration, and the Department of Defense, as well as international researchers from Canada, and Croatia, among others. This work will be of use to graduate students and researchers in family studies, social work, counseling, military science, psychology and sociology.

Download or read book Families Under Fire written by R. Blaine Everson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2011-01-07 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As provider networks on military bases are overwhelmed with new cases, civilian clinicians are increasingly likely to treat military families. However, these clinicians do not receive the same military mental-healthcare training as providers on military installations, adding strain to clinicians’ workloads and creating gaps in levels of treatment. Families Under Fire fills these gaps with real-world examples, clear, concise prose, and nuts-and-bolts approaches for working with military families utilizing a systems-based practice that is effective regardless of branch of service or the practitioner’s therapeutic preference. Any civilian mental-health practitioner who wants to understand the diverse needs of military personnel, their spouses, and their families will rely on this indispensable guidebook for years to come.