Service Member to Civilian: Transitions, Mental Health, Families and Education

描述（由申请人提供）：研究人员、政策制定者和联邦机构一直在缓慢地接受这样的现实：在多个国家的全球冲突中，看不到结束的迹象，以及对服役人员、退伍军人及其家人的影响。将于2014年和2015年举行的“军人向文职人员转变”会议将研究我们国家所有军种的军人如何过渡到文职生活，以及我们如何通过转化科学和服务来改善这种过渡。现役军人的生活经历了无数的环境变化，经常有多个部署周期，与家人和孩子、社区、雇主和学校团聚/重新融入社会。军人生活的过渡是困难的，精神和身体的创伤加剧了这种转变。由于44%的现役军人是父母，这些转变对家庭和孩子产生了巨大的影响。会议的目标是：1)建立包括现役军人、退伍军人、预备役人员、军队和退伍军人相关家庭和子女、研究人员、从业人员和社区决策者在内的研究联盟；2)目前的研究和最佳实践干预措施将在战略上更符合向平民文化过渡的军事人员和家庭；3)研究退伍军人和高等教育机构在退伍后所面临的挑战；4)让雇主参与关键对话，以弥合一些雇主对退伍军人的情绪/心理稳定性和可转移的经验技能的误解。拟议的从军人到平民会议是第一个全国性的跨学科会议，其重点是转化研究，以更好地理解和改善从军事服务到平民生活的过渡

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Researchers, policy makers and federal agencies have been slow in coming to terms with the realities of being in a worldwide conflict in multiple countries with no end in sight and the impact that has on service members, veterans and their families. The Service Member to Civilian conference, to be held in 2014 and 2015, will examine how our nation's service members from all branches of the military transition to civilian life and how we can improve that transition through translational science and service. Active duty service members experience a life of numerous changes in circumstance, with often multiple cycles of deployment and reunion/reintegration with their families and children, communities and employers and schools. The transitions of military life are difficult and exacerbated by mental and physical trauma. Since 44% of active duty service members are parents, these transitions have an enormous impact on families and children. The conference objectives are: 1) Build research consortia that include active duty service members, veterans, reservists, military and veteran-connected families and children, researchers, practitioners and community decision makers; 2) Present current research and best practice interventions that will be strategically more responsive to military personnel and families transitioned to civilian culture; 3) Examine the challenges facing both veterans and the institutions of higher education where they enroll upon separation from military service; and 4) Involve employers in critical dialogue to bridge the gap of misunderstanding that some employers have in regard to the emotional/mental stability and transferable experiential skills of veterans. The proposed Service Member to Civilian conference is the first national, interdisciplinary conference that focuses on translational research to better understand and improve the transition from military service to civilian life and the impact of that transition on the service member/veteran and their families and children. The conference incorporates four themes - the roles of higher education, families and children, communities, and employers in the transition - interactively. These themes collectively reflect the objectives and aims of the conference to build a research consortium, present current research, develop multidisciplinary future researchers, use current research to illuminate critical issues, identify research needs relevant to demographic shifts in the Armed Forces, and build a cadre of new professionals inclusive of current graduate students, interns, and diverse researchers underrepresented in the academy. Findings from the conference panel presentations and recommendations from participants via collaborative sessions will be developed in to a translational research agenda to move the field of understanding and improve service member and veteran reintegration. Finally, the committee members are committed to sustaining the focus on this key issue through their participation in the translational consortia that will be formed from the conference and continuing as steering committee members for the 2015 conference.