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MILITARY
MEDICINE

Health and Well-being for
Military and Veteran Caregivers

By Roxana Delgado, Ph.D.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan caregivers poses an imminent need to explore further.
have resulted in higher survival rates For the first time ever, we are gathering information on this
compared to other wars. The higher
prevalence of wounded, ill and in- population of pre- and post-9/11 military caregivers including:
jured veterans may require short- and the incidence of conditions and diseases; behavioral health char-
long-term medical companionship acteristics to include suicide ideation; children in the role of care-
and assistance, often offered by family giving; and stressors that are culturally congruent to military and
and friends. Family members and veterans. In an attempt to better understand the impact of care-
friends become the veteran’s primary giving in the family system, Dr. Kimberly Peacock’s focus is the
caregiver. They are our nation’s hid- military child and, within this study, the characteristics of chil-
den heroes. dren fulfilling the caregiver role.

We know from a large-scale needs Given the limited literature and evidence in the military caregiver
assessment study conducted by Ram- population, we used a unique approach to design the study: incor-
chand and colleagues (2014) that mil- porating a Military and Veteran Caregiver Advisory Group
itary caregivers from the post-9/11 (MVCAG). The MVCAG consisted of military caregivers in com-
wars are mostly spouses (33 percent) munities across the United States. With the help of organizations
and parents (25 percent), with the ma- serving this population and partnerships, we have successfully re-
jority being young adults with chil- cruited over 400 military caregivers. As anticipated, the majority of
dren. The unique challenges of military caregivers may be the participants were women — spouses (92 percent) under the age
impacted by the biopsychosocial factors when experiencing com-
plex injuries like the ones seen in veterans with polytrauma (i.e. continued on page 20
traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress, pain, amputation).
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To date, the only large-scale study regarding military caregivers’
health and well-being is provided by Ramchand and colleagues
(2014). They found significant disparities between civilian and
military caregivers. Military caregivers reported worse physical
and mental health issues than civilian caregivers and non-care-
givers, among other social and financial characteristics.

My colleagues and I at UT Health San Antonio are currently
conducting a one-year longitudinal study in pre- and post-9/11
military caregivers. The research team will identify, explore and
understand military caregivers’ health and well-being, the deter-
minants of their quality of life, and social development. Much is
known about caregivers of patients with catastrophic and neuro-
logical diseases, but the limited literature in military caregivers
coupled with the reported disparities when compared to civilian