Operation family caregiver: Problem‐solving training for military caregivers in a community setting

Abstract

This program may be beneficial to caregiving families of military service and veterans living with posttraumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and/or a physical disability.

Mental health symptoms and the reintegration difficulty of military couples following deployment: A longitudinal application of the relational turbulence model

“…In our sample, at‐home partners reported more mental health symptoms, reunion uncertainty, and reintegration difficulty than returning service members (see Table ). These findings are consistent with research illustrating the distress of military spouses (Sahlstein, Maguire, & Timmerman, ) and spotlight the importance of ensuring they have adequate social support (Skomorovsky, ; see also Easom, Wang, Moore, Wang, & Bauer, ). At the same time, virtually all of the returning service members in our sample were men and the at‐home partners were women, so a worthwhile goal for future research is to disentangle whether these findings reflect differences due to deployment or gender.…”

Implementation and feasibility considerations of an avatar‐based intervention for military family caregivers

“…Regarding the feasibility of implementing an intervention with MFCGs, this study found that, of those recruited and registered for the intervention, 51.6% completed the intervention, exceeding our target goal of at least 50 MFCGs. Our rate of completion is similar to other MFCG intervention studies, which found that nearly half of participants dropped out after intervention enrollment largely due to caregiving and other responsibilities (Easom et al, ). Recruitment required strong partnerships of trusted organizations currently working with MFCGs, as all participants were referred through a partnering organization.…”

“…Recruitment required strong partnerships of trusted organizations currently working with MFCGs, as all participants were referred through a partnering organization. These types of recruitment methods have been used in other MFCG studies with success (Easom et al, ). Future researchers should consider establishing strong community‐based partnerships with the target population to help enhance the success of recruitment and implementation.…”

“…To enhance caregiver navigation of difficult conversations, problem‐solving training (PST) can provide a simple framework to overcome challenges (Houts, Nezu, Nezu, & Bucher, ; Nezu, Palmatier, & Nezu, ). While PST is not a novel intervention approach, research has more recently started focusing on integrating PST into interventions with MFCG populations (Easom, Wang, Moore, Wang, & Bauer, ). For example, recent research implementing PST in an MFCG sample found decreased depression, burden and health complaints, and increases in life satisfaction and positive problem‐solving skills (Easom et al, ).…”

“…While PST is not a novel intervention approach, research has more recently started focusing on integrating PST into interventions with MFCG populations (Easom, Wang, Moore, Wang, & Bauer, ). For example, recent research implementing PST in an MFCG sample found decreased depression, burden and health complaints, and increases in life satisfaction and positive problem‐solving skills (Easom et al, ). In addition, a recent scoping review of caregiver interventions found emerging evidence for PST to enhance communication skills, as well as reduce mental health problems and improve social functioning and coping skills, which were maintained 6–12 months after intervention (Baker et al, ).…”