| Last updated on 2009-08-06 09:44:33 |
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Post-Deployment Health and Reunion Resources
As Service members head homeward, they will have to transition from the stresses and hardships of deployment to the routines and stresses of life back home. Also, after returning from a deployment, many service members experience minor, temporary changes in their health, mostly due to the realities of the mission, deployment travel, jet lag, adapting to a different schedule and diet. These effects should be temporary, and should diminish as the days go by. If these effects do not improve, or if they seem to worsen with time, they should be sure to see a health care provider. The health and safety of the U.S. military are important during a deployment and are still important as they return. Some resources to assist with transition and reunion are listed to the left. They come from a variety of Department of Defense sources but all contain useful information, regardless of Service.
Department of Defense Post-Deployment Health and Reunion Resources The Department of Defense knows that based on historical knowledge there will be post-deployment health concerns. To respond to these concerns, the DoD has health assessments, medical surveillance and care focused medical programs and services in place for service members and their families. The Department of Defense enhanced the post-deployment health assessment process. The expanded post-deployment health assessment form is an enhanced version of the previous instrument. It is a diagnostic tool, designed to gather more information from deployed service members, to facilitate communication between the service member and the health care provider, and to better assist medical personnel in evaluating the sevicemember’s health. A blood draw taken within 30 days of deployment is also being archived. The Post-Deployment Health Evaluation and Management Clinical Practice Guideline. is designed to assist health care providers in screening and evaluating service members with health concerns following deployment. Developed jointly with the military services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, civilian experts and veterans, the new guideline offers a structured way of giving care to people after deployments. In addition to checking pulse and temperature, the new clinical practice guideline calls on military doctors to ask each patient this question: "Is the issue causing you to seek care today related to a deployment?" If the answer is yes, the doctor will then follow the new guideline leading him on the best path for treating that patient. The DoD Deployment Health Clinical Center. is charged with helping veterans of all deployments. It does this by offering a comprehensive and caring program for all service members and their families through medical advocacy, evaluation and treatment, and veteran and clinician education, plus efforts to continually improve the post-deployment health care delivered in all DoD health care facilities. The DoD Center for Deployment Health Research. was established on September 30, 1999. Their mission includes conducting epidemiological studies to investigate the longitudinal health experience of previously deployed military personnel, and the development and evaluation of appropriate health surveillance strategies. Center research includes studies of symptoms, hospitalizations, reproductive outcomes, mortality, and other health outcomes among DoD beneficiary populations, both military and civilian. These studies involve investigations of personnel who remain on active duty and personnel who have left military service. ArmyA Soldier and Family Guide to Redeploying. This information guide is intended to help address redeployment issues and concerns you or your family might have. The reuniting process involves change s for both you and your family. Knowing what to expect, how to deal with the changes and where to get help, can make homecoming enjoyable and less stressful for everyone. Redeployment Medical Guide for Missions in Support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Now that you are in the process of going home, you need to remain alert to your own medical condition after leaving the theater. Staying in tune with your body’s signals over the next several months will help ensure your transition back to life in the U.S. is healthy and stress-free. Operation R.E.A.D.Y. Resources for Educating About Deployment and You. Operation R.E.A.D.Y. is a mobilization and deployment training resource library for the Department of Army and U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center. The need for Operation R.E.A.D.Y. was prompted by military experiences which demonstrated that readiness of Service personnel is directly related to the family's well-being. Supporting families is a vital concern during mobilization and deployment. Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC) Surgeon Re-Deployment Medical Threat Brief. The purpose of this briefing is to ensure that any health concerns service members might have are addressed and they are aware of the medical requirements for re-deployment. NavyLifelines Post-deployment Readiness Articles. The Navy and Marine Corps understand the questions and worries that arise as sailors and Marines return from deployment. With the help of deployment and family services experts, Lifelines has developed some helpful resources to provide answers to questions, and to lessen the strain service member and their families. Resources to Prepare for a Safe Return from Deployment. It's time to come home after a long and dangerous deployment. Well-deserved celebrations and joyous reunions await, but so do the temptations and risks that frequently claim too many of our people. Here are some items to help you prepare your troops and yourself for the return home. Air Force Crossroads Return & Reunion. Now it's time for friends and loved ones to get reacquainted with each other again. Take a moment to browse through the Return and Reunion section to better prepare you, your friends and family members on making the Reunion as memorable as possible. Warrior Transition. In today’s world, the Global Positioning System"GPS"tells you very exactly where you are; then you know better which direction to take to get to where you want to go. Warrior Transition is like an internal GPS, designed to facilitate the ages-old process of warrior transition from a hostile environment to a home environment. You can use it to get a formal fix on where you are; and you can use it to figure which way you want to go. Return and Reunion Guide for Marines and Families. The purpose of this guide is to help Marines smoothly transition back into your home, work and social life. To help you have a successful reunion, this guide will look at five major areas: (1) single Marines; (2) married Marines; (3) children; (4) single parents; and finally (5) reservists. Some of this information will be relevant to you and perhaps some won’t. Take what’s useful to you and apply it to your life. File the rest away for future use should your circumstances change. Return and Reunion Brief for Spouses and Families. Provides information that can help you have a smooth reunion with your Marine. First, it’ll talk about "where you’ve been." What have you experienced during this deployment and how you and your spouse might have changed? Secondly, it will talk about "where you are about to be." What are your expectations of the homecoming? Finally, it will talk about "where you want to be." How do you and your Marine transition from your separate lives caused by the deployment to being a couple again? Reserve AffairsGuard & Reserve Family Readiness Programs Toolkit. The toolkit provides help to prepare for deployment, ensure families cope with separation, and assist single members with their needs. Commander’s Focus, Post-Deployment and Reunion. Returning from a deployment and reunion with families are emotionally charged events. Disseminating the redeployment plan to the home station unit, family readiness program and family members in a timely manner is key. Special Interest Topics, Reunions and Homecoming. Reunions and homecoming are a time of celebration and change. If your spouse has been away a long time, it is easy to remember only the very good things and set high expectations for his or her return. Realistically, reunions and homecomings bring an adjustment of roles for everyone. Transitional Health Care Benefits for Service Members and Their Families. Certain Uniformed Services members and their eligible family members may be eligible for transitional health care benefits when they separate from active duty service. A Summary of VA Benefits for National Guard and Reservists Personnel. The Department of Veterans Affairs offers a wide range of benefits to our Nation’s veterans. Reservists might be eligible for VA benefits such as health care, depending on the location and length of military service. National Guard members might be eligible if the President activated them for federal duty. DoD Provides Transitional Health Care Benefits for 60 or 120 Days. Family members of active duty sponsors involuntarily separated from military service under honorable conditions, or family members of Reserve Component members separated after serving on active duty for more than 30 days in support of contingency operations, are eligible to receive transitional health care benefits for 60 or 120 days under the Department of Defense (DoD) Worldwide TRICARE Transitional Health Care Demonstration Project if their sponsor was on active duty January 1, 2002, or later. VHA Directive 2002-049. Combat veterans are eligible for medical services for two years after separation from military service. Deployment Health Clinical Center War on Terrorism: Stress and Trauma Fact Sheets. Stress may be defined as a psycho-physiological response to a perceived threat. People who encounter stressors, or perceived threats, experience a stress response. That response includes physical, emotional, and cognitive components in both the short and long-term process. Communicating Deployment-Related Health Concerns to Patients. DHCC has gathered a few documents that they hope will help clinicians learn how to effectively communicate deployment-related health concerns to patients. Reserve Component Resources for Post-Deployment. This section provides information on ensuring good health after deployment and easing the readjustment into family and work life. It provides information on the use of medical screening and the Post Deployment Health Clinical Practice Guideline, advice on becoming reacquainted with family members, and medical care available through Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs. afterdeployment.org The mission of this site is to assist in addressing common post-deployment concerns experienced by Service Members, Families, and Veterans Health Assessments As prescribed by the Under Secretary of Defense (P&R) Memo on Enhanced Post-Deployment Health Assessments, the Joint Staff memorandum on Deployment Health Surveillance and Readiness, and by the DoD Health Affairs memorandum on Pre- and Post-Deployment Health Assessments, both pre- and post-deployment health surveys are required in order to assess a service member's state of health before and after deployment to assist military health care providers in identifying health concerns and providing medical care. The Pre-Deployment Health Assessment should be administered at the home station or at the mobilization processing station within 30 days prior to deployment. The Post-Deployment Health Assessment should be administered in theater, within 5 days of redeployment. The Post-Deployment Health Reassessment is or PDHRA, is part of the force health protection program. It extends the continuum of care for Service members’ deployment-related health concerns. The PDHRA provides education, screening, assessment and access to care for a wide variety of questions and concerns that you may have about your health after you return from deployment. Our mission is to provide a full range of services to you and your family. We recognize that deployment may have an impact on your health and well-being. Our commitment is to programs that successfully safeguard your health and wellbeing. Our goal is to avoid or minimize any negative impact deployment may have had on your health. The original health assessments are to be placed in the service member’s permanent medical record; and copies mailed to the Army Medical Surveillance Activity for integration into the Defense Medical Surveillance System. Department of Veterans Affairs The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Web site is a worldwide resource that provides information on VA programs, veterans benefits, VA facilities worldwide, and VA medical automation software. This site serves several major constituencies, including the veteran and his or her dependents, Veterans Service Organizations, the military, the general public, and VA employees around the world. The VA Compensation & Pension Benefits Service administers a variety of benefits and services for veterans, their dependents and survivors, including, but not limited to: service-connected compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, non-service connected pension, burial and accrued benefits, guardianship and public contact services. You can also reach the Compensation & Pension Benefits Service toll-free by calling 1-800-827-1000. The VA also offers Veterans On-line Applications which are designed so U.S. military veterans and some service members within six months of separation or retirement can apply for compensation, pension, and vocational rehabilitation benefits through the Internet. The Veterans Health Administration provides a broad spectrum of medical, surgical, and rehabilitative care to its customers. Their Veterans Health Benefits & Services Web site contains information on eligibility for benefits and how to apply. Programs for Gulf War Veterans Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program – DoD established the Comprehensive Clinical Evaluation Program to provide an in-depth medical evaluation to all eligible beneficiaries who have health concerns following service in the Gulf. All Service members eligible for health care at DoD medical facilities include Gulf War veterans now on active duty or retired; and all members of the Reserve components who are placed on orders by their units; and eligible family members of such personnel. To register, individuals should call the DoD toll-free number at (800-796-9699). VA Gulf War Registry – The Department of Veterans Affairs Gulf War Registry offers a free, complete physical examination with basic laboratory studies to every veteran who served in the Gulf War. The VA has named a physician at every VA medical center to coordinate the special examination program, which elicits information about symptoms and exposures and directs baseline laboratory studies. The VA is also inviting spouses and children of Gulf War Veterans who have received a Registry examination to take advantage of the special health examinations. To schedule an examination you should contact the VA at 800-PGW-VETS (800-749-8387). TRICARE The TRICARE Military Health System is a regionally managed health care program for active duty and retired members of the uniformed services, their families, and survivors. TRICARE brings together the health care resources of the Army, Navy and Air Force and supplements them with networks of civilian health care professionals to provide better access and high quality service while maintaining the capability to support military operations. Service Organizations Veterans Service Organizations - A number of organizations provide assistance and representation, without charge, to veterans seeking health care and other benefits for which they are eligible. Through a world-wide network of service officers around the country and some in overseas locations, service officers assist members and other veterans in understanding and obtaining benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Service officers are known by a variety of names:
Military Service Organizations - Military service organizations support national defense issues through research, education, legislation, advocacy and public information. These organizations foster public support and serve members of the uniformed services, members of the National Guard and Reserves, civilians, retirees and family members.
A full range of support services is currently available to support service members and their families. These services include self-help materials, information and referral services, military life skills education, and counseling for individuals, couples and families. Services are available online 24/7, and in community settings during scheduled business hours. Check out this fact sheet from the Deployment Health and Family Readiness Library. Service member & Family Assistance: For Service members and their Families (as of July 25, 2006) |
