Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities

Jeffrey P Haibach¹, Michael Ann Haibach², Katherine S Hall^{3

4}, Robin M Masheb^{5

6}, Melissa A Little⁷, Robyn L Shepardson^{8

9}, Anne C Dobmeyer¹⁰, Jennifer S Funderburk^{8

9

11}, Christopher L Hunter¹², Margaret Dundon¹³, Leslie R M Hausmann^{14

15}, Stephen K Trynosky^{16

17}, David E Goodrich¹⁸, Amy M Kilbourne^{19

20}, Sara J Knight^{21

22}, Gerald W Talcott⁷, Michael G Goldstein¹³

Affiliations

¹ Health Services Research and Development Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW (10P9H), Washington, DC, 20420, USA. Jeffrey.Haibach@va.gov.
² U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, USA.
³ Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
⁵ VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA.
⁶ Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁷ Center for Population Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
⁸ VA Center for Integrated Healthcare, Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
¹⁰ Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Deployment Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹² Patient-Centered Medical Home Branch, Clinical Support Division, Defense Health Agency, Washington, DC, USA.
¹³ National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, NC, USA.
¹⁴ Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹⁵ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹⁶ Office of Academic Affiliations, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁷ Medical Service Corps, U.S. Army Reserve, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁸ Center for Clinical Management Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
¹⁹ Health Services Research and Development Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW (10P9H), Washington, DC, 20420, USA.
²⁰ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
²¹ Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA.
²² Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.

PMID: 27678001
DOI: 10.1007/s10865-016-9794-y

Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities

Jeffrey P Haibach et al. J Behav Med. 2017 Feb.

. 2017 Feb;40(1):175-193.

doi: 10.1007/s10865-016-9794-y. Epub 2016 Sep 27.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Health Services Research and Development Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW (10P9H), Washington, DC, 20420, USA. Jeffrey.Haibach@va.gov.
² U.S. Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH, USA.
³ Durham VA Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA.
⁵ VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven, CT, USA.
⁶ Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
⁷ Center for Population Sciences, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA.
⁸ VA Center for Integrated Healthcare, Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY, USA.
⁹ Department of Psychology, Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
¹⁰ Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Deployment Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD, USA.
¹¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, USA.
¹² Patient-Centered Medical Home Branch, Clinical Support Division, Defense Health Agency, Washington, DC, USA.
¹³ National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Durham, NC, USA.
¹⁴ Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹⁵ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
¹⁶ Office of Academic Affiliations, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁷ Medical Service Corps, U.S. Army Reserve, Washington, DC, USA.
¹⁸ Center for Clinical Management Research, VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
¹⁹ Health Services Research and Development Service, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW (10P9H), Washington, DC, 20420, USA.
²⁰ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
²¹ Birmingham VA Medical Center, Birmingham, AL, USA.
²² Division of Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.

PMID: 27678001
DOI: 10.1007/s10865-016-9794-y

Erratum in

Erratum to: Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities.
Haibach JP, Haibach MA, Hall KS, Masheb RM, Little MA, Shepardson RL, Dobmeyer AC, Funderburk JS, Hunter CL, Dundon M, Hausmann LR, Trynosky SK, Goodrich DE, Kilbourne AM, Knight SJ, Talcott GW, Goldstein M. Haibach JP, et al. J Behav Med. 2017 Feb;40(1):227-228. doi: 10.1007/s10865-016-9801-3. J Behav Med. 2017. PMID: 27757768 No abstract available.

Abstract

There are 2.1 million current military servicemembers and 21 million living veterans in the United States. Although they were healthier upon entering military service compared to the general U.S. population, in the longer term veterans tend to be of equivalent or worse health than civilians. One primary explanation for the veterans' health disparity is poorer health behaviors during or after military service, especially areas of physical activity, nutrition, tobacco, and alcohol. In response, the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs continue to develop, evaluate, and improve health promotion programs and healthcare services for military and veteran health behavior in an integrated approach. Future research and practice is needed to better understand and promote positive health behavior during key transition periods in the military and veteran life course. Also paramount is implementation and evaluation of existing interventions, programs, and policies across the population using an integrated and person centered approach.

Keywords: Behavioral health; Health behavior; Health promotion; Healthcare; Military; Servicemember; Veteran.

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Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities

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Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities

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