News Release
U.S. Military Making Progress on Reducing Stigma Associated with Seeking Help For Mental Illness
Sep 30, 2014
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Despite the efforts of both the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Veterans Health Administration to enhance mental health services, many service members are not regularly seeking needed care when they have mental health problems. Without appropriate treatment, these mental health problems can have wide-ranging and negative impacts on the quality of life and the social, emotional, and cognitive functioning of affected service members. The services have been actively engaged in developing policies, programs, and campaigns designed to reduce stigma and increase service members' help-seeking behavior. However, there has been no comprehensive assessment of these efforts' effectiveness and the extent to which they align with service members' needs or evidence-based practices. The goal of this research was to assess DoD's approach to stigma reduction — how well it is working and how it might be improved. To address these questions, RAND researchers used five complementary methods: (1) literature review, (2) a microsimulation modeling of costs, (3) interviews with program staff, (4) prospective policy analysis, and (5) an expert panel. The priorities outlined in this report represent a first step for where additional program and policy development and research and evaluation are needed to improve understanding of how best to get service members with mental health disorders the needed treatment as efficiently and effectively as possible.
Chapter One:
Introduction
Chapter Two:
Defining Stigma in the Military Context
Chapter Three:
Prevalence of Mental Health Stigma in the Military
Chapter Four:
Societal Costs of Mental Health Stigma in the Military
Chapter Five:
Promising Programmatic and Policy Approaches to Reducing Stigma
Chapter Six:
U.S. Department of Defense Programs to Reduce Mental Health Stigma
Chapter Seven:
U.S. Department of Defense Policies Related to Stigma
Chapter Eight:
Key Findings and Priorities for Improving the U.S. Department of Defense's Approach to Stigma Reduction
Appendix A:
Methods for Literature Review
Appendix B:
Definitions of Mental Health Stigma
Appendix C:
Prevalence of Stigma in the General U.S. Population
Appendix D:
Detailed Methods for the Modeling Approach
Appendix E:
Program Descriptions and Analysis
Appendix F:
Policy-Analysis Methods
Appendix G:
Policies with Implications for Stigma
Appendix H:
Policies That Contain Negative Terminology with Implications for Stigma
Appendix I:
Methods Used to Conduct the Expert Panel to Refine and Vet Priorities for Mental Health Stigma Reduction in the U.S. Department of Defense
This research was sponsored by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and conducted within the Forces and Resources Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community.
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