In the 21st century, the United States of America has deployed up to 2 million soldiers to support military operations in war-stricken countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Such deployments often affect the service members as well as those left at home (Lara-Cinisomo, Chandra, Burns, Jaycox, Tanielian, Ruder, " Han, 2012). A particular study suggests that about 34,000 service members inclusive of soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen have been injured in military operations with many of these injuries being severe. Some of the most common conditions of injured combatants include traumatic brain injury, amputation, burns, and orthopedic injuries (Cozza, Guimond, McKibben, Chun, Arata-Maiers, Schneider, " Ursano, 2010). The injury of a soldier presents substantial disruption to the combatant’s household and causes disturbing experiences for children as the amount of time spent with their parents, the parenting practices, schedules, and living arrangements have to be altered to fit the needs of the injured soldier. Consequently, there is the need for concern in combat-injured families through the development of programs that cater for these military personnel and their households.
Challenges Facing Combat-Injured Families
Injuries that service members obtain when fighting the war against terrorism in the United States of America result in significant challenges for the military families, especially the children. Physical injuries may be an inhibitor of the physical movements of the combatant and may necessitate changes in living conditions and other schedules. Further, brain injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder may result in alterations in the soldier’s personality and behaviors. Sponsors and stakeholders of programs for combat-injured families should remain alert to the effects of both physical and psychological injuries of combatants on children and the parenting experience.
Secondary traumatization is one of the symptoms that develop in children from combat injured families. Markedly, some kids may develop symptoms that reflect those of the injured parents. For instance, a child may begin having nightmares as a result of worrying about the behavior of the injured parent. This may result to problems in class concentration at school. Failure to acknowledge this traumatization may lead to the worsening of the condition. Some of the behaviors that a child distressed by the injury condition of the parent include withdrawal, feelings of embarrassment, self-blame, and anger or resentment towards changes in the family or new responsibilities.
Over and above the impact of the injury to the children, the returning soldier may also experience hurting feelings of rejection, especially when the children are slow to warming up to the returning service member (DeVoe, " Ross, 2012). The end result of this is that the returning parent may pour his or her frustrations on the at-home parent leading to stress related to parenting role negotiations, financial functioning, and household roles. Dealing with such challenges indeed requires the intervention of a professional through the development of a program to care for the combat-injured families.
Demographic Factors for Consideration
In the formation of a program to serve the needs of combat injured families, it is imperative to consider some demographic factors. The first one is the age of the injured combatant. It is essential to know the age of the soldier in order to choose the best mode of communication. Further, it is essential to know the religion of the family. The cause of this is that some forms of recreation or medication are not allowed in some religions. Consequently, knowing the religious affiliation of the soldier is bound to let one prepare in hand with regards to the dos and don’ts in such families. The average size of the family is another demographic factor that is essential finding out in the development of a program to cater for combat-injured families. Markedly, these injuries necessitate the alteration of family schedules. To help a family cope with the new changes, it is important to know the size to help with the assigning of responsibilities among other issues. Finally, the race of cultural affiliation of the soldier’s family is a crucial demographic factor. As a leader of the program to help such families, one needs to understand the culture of the combatant’s family for the elimination of communication barriers and enhance cultural appreciation to gain the trust of the family.
Necessary Skills and Sensitivities for Program Development
Dealing with the families of injured service members requires the acquisition of various skills for the success of the program. First, it is essential that one knows how to dress wounds. Many of the soldiers who come back with injuries need help dressing them. As a social worker, one needs to learn the basic first aid techniques and how to change bandages among other simple clinical activities. Consequently, one can show these to the children and the partner of the injured combatant. Another significant set of skills is guidance and counselling. The kids of the soldier may develop some violent or antisocial behaviors as a result of worrying about the condition of the injured parent. A social worker should know how to counsel such children. Finally, one should be aware of stress management techniques. The entire family may be stressed due to the condition of the returning soldier and it is essential that a social worker is aware of stress coping techniques to help the family members.
Elements of Military Culture for Consideration
During the development of a program to cater for combat-injured families, it is imperative to consider some basic elements of military culture. The first one is discipline. When working with the family of a combatant, it is essential to maintain discipline. This is because soldier are trained to follow rules and remain methodical in all their operations. Further, I would consider cohesion and esprits de corps. Cohesion focuses on the maintenance of oneness. This would be an important element to consider because it would help one establish unity in the family despite the condition of the service member. Esprits de corps refers to the feeling of common loyalty. It is important to remain loyal to the family of the soldier and help them cope with the injured family member without losing unity.
Program Design
The aim of any program for the support of combat injured families is to enhance the wellbeing and psychological health of the military family (Blaisure, Saathoff-Wells, Pereira, MacDermid, " Dombro, 2016). The proposed design for the support program entails several components. First, the support group must have a counselling and crisis assistance professional. The work of this individual is to ensure that all the family members are relieved of stress by the provision of coping mechanisms advice. The program would also entail parenting sessions and life skills education for the family members. The need for this is to help the parents successfully adapt the changes in the responsibilities as well as learn how to help their children cope with the situation of the injured parent. Finally, child care planning and referrals would be a significant part of the program design. This is for the purpose of catering for families that may have both parents injured during service. Clearly, this is an inclusive program design that seeks to help all members of combat injured families.
References
Blaisure, K. R., Saathoff-Wells, T., Pereira, A., MacDermid Wadsworth, S., " Dombro, A. L. (2016). Serving military families (2nd Ed.). New York: NY: Routledge. 259-285.
Bride, B. E., " Figley, C. R. (2009). Secondary trauma and military veteran caregivers. Smith College Studies in Social Work, 79(3-4), 314-329.
Cozza, S. J., Guimond, J. M., McKibben, J., Chun, R. S., Arata-Maiers, T. L., Schneider, B., " Ursano, R. J. (2010). Combat‐injured service members and their families: the relationship of child distress and spouse‐perceived family distress and disruption. Journal of traumatic stress, 23(1), 112-115.
DeVoe, E. R., " Ross, A. (2012). The parenting cycle of deployment. Military medicine, 177(2), 184-190.
Lara-Cinisomo, S., Chandra, A., Burns, R. M., Jaycox, L. H., Tanielian, T., Ruder, T., " Han, B. (2012). A mixed-method approach to understanding the experiences of non-deployed military caregivers. Maternal and child health journal, 16(2), 374-384.
