Citation

Ohye B, Kelly H, Chen Y, Zakarian RJ, Simon NM, Bui E. Mil. Med. 2016; 181(8): 872-877.

Affiliation

Red Sox Foundation & Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, One Bowdoin Square, Suite 650, Boston, MA 02114.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Association of Military Surgeons of the United States)

DOI

10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00234

PMID

27483526

Abstract

Since September 11, 2001, over 2 million U.S. service members have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, resulting in hundreds of thousands of military-connected children (MCC) having experienced a parental deployment. Although parental deployments have significantly burdened these children, few evidence-based interventions designed to support their resilience to these stressors are available. To address this gap, we developed a civilian school-based intervention to promote resilience in MCC living in the community. Our intervention, Staying Strong With Schools (SSWS), aims to deliver: a training to all school professionals early in the school year to educate them about challenges for children and families experiencing parental deployment and signs of deployment-related distress; and a year-long training for the school guidance counselor who coordinates communication and provides psychosocial support to MCC within the school community. We piloted SSWS in two civilian elementary schools and found promising feasibility and acceptability.

Reprint & Copyright © 2016 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Language: en