Research Paper
Understanding military families who have dependents with special health care and/or educational needs

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2016.03.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Background

Little is known about military families who have a dependent with special health care and/or educational needs. The Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) is designed to link these families to military/community support services through family support provider (FS providers).

Objective

The aim of this study was to understand FS providers' perspectives on the kinds of current challenges the families with whom they work face. This is the first study to ascertain the perspectives of professionals FS providers.

Methods

FS providers (N = 160) completed a survey either on the phone or via the web. The survey consisted of four areas regarding EFMP: (1) background information; (2) caseload and work composition; (3) perceptions of Military Family needs; and (4) adequacy of community support services.

Results

The most commonly encountered diagnoses in military families were Autism (94%) and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (93%). Between 80% and 90% of FS providers reported working with families dealing with Emotional/Behavioral Disorders, Speech & Language Disorders, Asthma, Developmental Delays, and Mental Health Problems. FS providers noted that relocations are particularly challenging for military families in the EFMP.

Conclusions

Training and programming of social service professionals working with military families who have a dependent with special health care and/or educational needs should focus on commonly occurring challenges seen in this population. As much as possible, FS providers should be familiar with evidence-based programs and practices designed to address these pressing problems. The process and execution of relocations should be streamlined so as to enhance continuity of care.

Section snippets

Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP)

The 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) mandated the creation of a program to support military families who have children or adult dependents with special health care and/or educational needs. Key provisions of the act included: (a) assigning military personnel to locations where specialty care is available; (b) timely and accurate evaluations; (c) providing an adequate number of case managers; (d) improved individual services plan; and (e) support for referrals and services.

The

Current study

The aim of this study was to understand FS provider perspectives on the kinds of challenges military families face in meeting the special health care and/or educational needs of their dependents, other challenges military families faced, and the adequacy of community services and supports. We anticipated that FS provider would report encountering families who contend with a range of stressors in numerous life domains.10 It is important to note, that we do not know with certainty the proportion

Participants

Each FS providers (N = 323) was emailed and invitation by the Department of Defense, Office of Community Support for Military Families with Special Needs (OSN), and Military Community and Family Policy to participate in web-based survey. Emails bounced back for 45 potential participants. Thus, email invitations were successfully sent to 278 FS providers. Of these, 160 FS providers responded to the survey with 146 completing the survey in its entirety. This represented a total response rate of

Types of disabilities encountered

Respondents were asked to indicate whether they worked with families who were dealing with any one of 13 specific special health care and/or educational needs. In addition, respondents were asked to mention any other special health care and/or educational needs they encountered (see Table 5). Of the 13 specific disabilities cited, the largest proportion of professionals reported working with dependents with Autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). More than 80% of FS

Discussion

Results of this study indicate that those families enrolled in the EFMP have significant health care and/or educational needs. Autism, developmental delays, emotional and behavioral problems were commonly mentioned by FS providers. In many cases, families have dependents with multiple special health care and/or educational challenges. Given the unique demands and challenges faced by all military families, it is likely that families enrolled in EFMP are at particular risk for exposure to chronic

References (28)

  • R. Martins et al.

    The impact of the diagnosis of autism in parents of children

    Procedia Soc Behav Sci

    (2015)
  • S. Werner et al.

    Subjective well-being among family caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities: the role of affiliate stigma and psychosocial moderating variables

    Res Dev Disabil

    (2013)
  • Dyson LL, The experiences of families of children with learning disabilities: J Learn Disabil (3), 96AD,...
  • Annual Report to the Congressional Defense Committees on Plans for the Department of Defense for the Support of Military Family Readiness

    (2013)
  • T.J. Russo et al.

    Helping military families who have a child with a disability cope with stress

    Early Child Educ J

    (2001)
  • H.K. Watanabe et al.

    Soldier functioning under chronic stress: effects of family member illness

    Mil Med

    (1995)
  • N.E. Reichman et al.

    Impact of child disability on the family

    Matern Child Health J

    (2008)
  • S. Wall et al.

    Child care for low-income children with disabilities: access, quality, and parental satisfaction

    J Early Interv

    (2006)
  • Report of the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission: Final Report

    (2015)
  • B.Y. Wheeler et al.

    The Exceptional Family Member Program: helping special needs children in military families

  • P.L. Johnson et al.

    Military children and the programs that meet their needs

  • K.R. Aronson et al.

    Challenges faced by military families: perceptions of United States Marine Corps school liaisons

    J Child Fam Stud

    (2013)
  • L. Foster Thompson et al.

    Employee surveys administered online: attitudes toward the medium, nonresponse, and data representativeness

    Organ Res Methods

    (2007)
  • Department of Defense Exceptional Family Member Benchmark Study

    (2013)
  • Cited by (19)

    View all citing articles on Scopus

    This work was funded by a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture, award # 2010-48709-21867.

    The authors have no conflicts of interest.

    There have been no prior presentations or publications of this work.

    View full text