Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities

Abstract

There are 2.1 million current military servicemembers and 21 million living veterans in the United States. Although they were healthier upon entering military service compared to the general U.S. population, in the longer term veterans tend to be of equivalent or worse health than civilians. One primary explanation for the veterans' health disparity is poorer health behaviors during or after military service, especially areas of physical activity, nutrition, tobacco, and alcohol. In response, the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs continue to develop, evaluate, and improve health promotion programs and healthcare services for military and veteran health behavior in an integrated approach. Future research and practice is needed to better understand and promote positive health behavior during key transition periods in the military and veteran life course. Also paramount is implementation and evaluation of existing interventions, programs, and policies across the population using an integrated and person centered approach.

A Coaching by Telephone Intervention on Engaging Patients to Address Modifiable Cardiovascular Risk Factors: a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…4 Even worse, younger veterans are at particularly high risk for developing chronic illnesses, because they are more likely to be overweight/obese and smoke more heavily compared to nonveterans the same age. [5][6][7] A health risk assessment (HRA) is a comprehensive tool to elicit patient-reported behaviors and combine them with clinical values in a statistical model that presents to patients their risk for adverse outcomes, and the degree to which these outcomes can be modified by changing their behaviors. Comprehensive HRAs have been in use for over 30 years and are widely available online; however, HRA use alone is not effective in changing behaviors.…”

Motivating future directions of behavioral medicine

“…The health of the millions of military service members and veterans in the US is of great concern, especially given the fact that military service members tend to be healthier than the general population upon entry but have equivalent or worse health than civilians long term. Haibach et al (2016) describe the ongoing health promotion efforts of the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs, with special attention to the need for health promotion research focused on key transition periods in both military service and veteran life.…”

Substance use disorders in military veterans: prevalence and treatment challenges

“…Additionally, veterans with SUDs often have co-occurring medical conditions, such as obesity, sleep disturbance, physical injury, and chronic pain as well as other complicating issues such as lower overall quality of life, poorer quality relationships, and higher levels of aggression compared to veterans with a mental health diagnosis but no substance use diagnosis. 70 – 72 Female veterans with an SUD diagnosis are more likely to have reproductive and urinary problems than female veterans without an SUD diagnosis while male veterans with an SUD diagnosis are more likely to be diagnosed with circulatory and digestive system diseases than male veterans without an SUD diagnosis. 73 Though not typically addressed in SUD treatment manuals, these issues are likely to impact treatment and should be addressed during treatment.…”