Since October 2001, about 1.9 million US troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the US Army, the average active duty soldier is 22 years of age, a high school graduate, and married with two children. The all-volunteer military has experienced multiple redeployments to the war zone, increased use of the reserve components of the military and National Guard, increased numbers of deployed women and parents of young children, and increases in the number of military personnel surviving severe injuries that in previous wars would have resulted in death.
Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Preliminary Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and their Families, a recent report from the Institute of Medicine, makes recommendations for future research directions in social, economic and health consequences of deployment and redeployment. This book also promotes an emphasis on treatment of mental health and substance use disorders. Returning Home presents findings on the most critical challenges and lays out the blueprint for additional study to determine how best to meet the needs of returning troops and their families.
The National Academies has produced a number of reports that discuss issues of importance to both active duty and retired military. Links to more information about National Academies reports that may also interest you are listed below.
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Returning Home from Iraq and Afghanistan: Preliminary Assessment of Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and Their Families
Nearly 1.9 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. Many service members and veterans face serious challenges in readjusting to normal life after returning home. This initial book presents findings on the most… |
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Provision of Mental Health Counseling Services Under TRICARE
In this book, the IOM makes recommendations for permitting independent practice for mental health counselors treating patients within TRICARE–the DOD’s health care benefits program. This would change current policy, which requires all counselors to practice… |
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Gulf War and Health: Volume 8: Update of Health Effects of Serving in the Gulf War
For the United States, the 1991 Persian Gulf War was a brief and successful military operation with few injuries and deaths. However, soon after returning from duty, a large number of veterans began reporting health problems they believed were associated with… |
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Student Mobility: Exploring the Impact of Frequent Moves on Achievement: Summary of a Workshop
Many low-income families struggle with stable housing and frequently have to move due to foreclosures, rent increases, or other financial setbacks. Children in these families can experience lasting negative effects, especially those who are young and still… |
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Combating Tobacco Use in Military and Veteran Populations
The health and economic costs of tobacco use in military and veteran populations are high. In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) make recommendations on how to… |
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Systems Engineering to Improve Traumatic Brain Injury Care in the Military Health System: Workshop Summary
This book makes a strong case for taking advantage of the best of two disciplines–health care and operational systems engineering (a combination of science and mathematics to describe, analyze, plan, design, and integrate systems with complex interactions… |
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Depression in Parents, Parenting, and Children: Opportunities to Improve Identification, Treatment, and Prevention
Depression is a widespread condition affecting approximately 7.5 million parents in the U.S. each year and may be putting at least 15 million children at risk for adverse health outcomes. Based on evidentiary studies, major depression in either parent can… |
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Gulf War and Health: Volume 7: Long-Term Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury
The seventh in a series of congressionally mandated reports on Gulf War veterans health, this volume evaluates traumatic brain injury (TBI) and its association with long-term health affects. That many returning veterans have TBI will likely mean… |
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The Future of Disability in America
The future of disability in America will depend on how well the U.S. prepares for and manages the demographic, fiscal, and technological developments that will unfold during the next two to three decades. Building upon two prior studies from the Institute… |
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A 21st Century System for Evaluating Veterans for Disability Benefits
21st Century System for Evaluating Veterans’ Disability Benefits recommends improvements in the medical evaluation and rating of veterans for the benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to compensate for illnesses or… |
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Improving the Quality of Health Care for Mental and Substance-Use Conditions: Quality Chasm Series
Each year, more than 33 million Americans receive health care for mental or substance-use conditions, or both. Together, mental and substance-use illnesses are the leading cause of death and disability for women, the highest for men ages 15-44, and the second… |
