Over the last decade, U.S. military forces have been engaged in extended conflicts that are characterized by increased operational tempo, most notably in Iraq and Afghanistan. While most military personnel cope well across the deployment cycle, many will experience difficulties handling stress at some point; will face psychological health challenges, such as post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression; or will be affected by the short- and long-term psychological and cognitive consequences of a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Over the past several years, the Department of Defense (DoD) has implemented numerous programs that address various components of psychological health along the resilience, prevention, and treatment continuum and focus on a variety of clinical and nonclinical concerns. This comprehensive catalog of programs currently sponsored or funded by DoD to address psychological health and TBI provides overviews and detailed descriptions of 211 programs, along with a description of how programs relate to other available resources and care settings. It also provides recommendations for clarifying the role of programs, examining gaps in routine service delivery that could be filled by programs, and reducing implementation barriers. Barriers include inadequate funding and resources, concerns about the stigma associated with receiving psychological health services, and inability to have servicemembers spend adequate time in programs. The authors found that there is significant duplication of effort, both within and across branches of service. As each program develops its methods independently, it is difficult to determine which approaches work and which are ineffective. Recommendations include strategic planning, centralized coordination, and information-sharing across branches of service, combined with rigorous evaluation. Programs should be evaluated and tracked in a database, and evidence-based interventions should be used to support program efforts.

Title on disc label : Appendix B: program descriptions. "Prepared for the Office of the Secretary of Defense." "Rand Center for Military Health Policy Research."

Introduction -- Conceptualizing Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury âp0sb3s What Is a Program? sâp0sb3s Methods sâp0sb3s Results sâp0sb3s Recommendations and Conclusions sâp0sb3s Appendix A: Index of Programs sâp0sb3s Appendix B: Program Descriptions -- Appendix C: Excluded Entities sâp0sb3s Appendix D: Mapping Programs to Our Typology of Program Activities sâp0sb3s Appendix E: Terms and Definitions.