HomeFront Strong: Building Resiliency in Military Families
Abstract
The project aimed to improve the psychological health and well-being of military and veteran families residing in civilian communities by implementing and evaluating HomeFront Strong (HFS), an evidence-based intervention for military and veteran spouses/partners, and their children. This project was guided by three Aims: 1. Develop and field test an HFS mobile website; 2. Train community providers to disseminate HFS at their community sites; and 3. Evaluate the mental health outcomes of group vs. web-based HFS in a sample of 321 military and veteran spouses/partners. In Aim 1, the HFS mobile website was developed in Year 1 and piloted in Year 2, then remained fully operational through the project. The websites security and reliability provided a major contribution, including during the pandemic when we could offer the online curriculum while in-person groups could not be held. Through Aim 2, we trained 107 community providers in military family resilience and the HFS intervention, with 12 providers receiving intensive training, supervision, and coaching in the model. Providers who attended the 2-day training showed statistically significant pre-to-post improvements on all HFS skills and knowledge items, as well as great satisfaction with the training. Providers who became HFS group facilitators achieved high fidelity to the HFS model and had statistically significant gains in HFS skills and knowledge. These results reflect the quality and effectiveness of the HFS training program and its utility for training clinicians to work effectively with military spouses and families. Pursuant to Aim 3, participant recruitment was a primary focus while enrollment was open. The pandemic led to the suspension of all in-person research activities, after which we used virtual methods of outreach and recruitment.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1178559
Entities
People
- Michelle Kees
Organizations
- Board of Regents of the University of Michigan