FAC T SHEET FOR PROVIDERS

A Health Campaign of Uniformed Services University, www.usuhs.edu, and theCenter for the Study of Traumatic Stress, Bethesda, Maryland, www.CSTSonline.org

Reintegration Roadmap
Shared Sense of Purpose

Reintegration Challenges
Reframing the Challenge:
Thechanging
natureandcomplexity
Uniformed Services University
Shared-Sense-of-Purpose Paradigm
applauds the educational efforts andThe challenge of reintegration canof the Iraq war has contributed toprograms our Department of Defense
be summed up in three words: sense ofreintegration stresses experienced
community is providing to assist troops
purpose.
and their families in the reintegration
The biggest task for the returningby service members, theirprocess post deployment. To enhanceservicemember is to transform a sense
spouses and families.
these efforts, our military trauma expertsof purpose created by the intensity of war
have prepared this concise and friendly,
into the routines and safety of everyday
two-part fact sheet that is based upon recent interviews
life. Similarly, the service member’s family has established awith affected families. You may forward this Provider Fact
sense of purpose sustaining the home and its routines in theSheet and the attached Fact Sheet for Couples electronically, absence of the spouse. Helping couples respect each other’sor download them for distribution to military health andperspective and reestablish a shared sense of purpose is acommunity leaders, and the military families they serve.
constructive paradigm that addresses standard concepts
Local contact information can be added to the Couples
such as emotional changes, expectations, and adjustments,
Fact Sheet in the space provided by hand or using the fulland reframes them into an action-oriented, positive
version of Adobe Acrobat. We encourage you to reachapproach for moving couples forward.
out to the many spouses of young soldiers who returned
to families of origin and other sources of support not
Roadmap for Reintegration
connected to military communities.
The attached fact sheet presents a four-step guide on how
couples can reestablish a shared sense of purpose. It can be
Real Issues
distributed as a takeaway after educational debriefings, or
The changing nature and complexity of the Iraq war
used with existing programs. The four steps to achieving ahas contributed to reintegration stresses experienced byshared sense of purpose are:service members, their spouses, and families. The military
1. Understand common factors that have shaped theoperation in Iraq, a conventional conflict between armies
service member’s and spouse’s sense of purpose during
for only a few weeks, became a predominantly guerillaseparation.
war with no front-line, constant threat, and a disguised
2. Recognize common concerns shared by service member
enemy. Humanitarian and peace keeping missions suchand spouse resulting from the separation.
as rebuilding schools, hospitals, and training police forces
3. Be aware of relationship breakers: common, sensitive
have and continue to put our troops in harm’s way. Many
issues that can distance couples.
service members and families have encountered confusionand stress due to this variety of missions compounded by
4. Focus on relationship makers: ways to build sharedextended or open-ended return dates.
experiences, shared sense of purpose and closeness.
Courage to Care is a health promotion campaign of Uniformed Services University
and its Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS). CSTS is the academic
arm and a partnering Center of the Defense Centers of Excellence 5DCoE) for
Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.