Sharing of military Veterans’ mental health data across Canada: A scoping review

LAY SUMMARY Information on Canadian military Veterans’ mental health is needed to develop and improve mental health services. It is not clear to what extent such information is available and connected across its sources. A comprehensive review of scientific and other authorized publications was conducted to identify information sources related to Canadian Veteran mental health, connections between them, and related policies or guidelines. Ten data sources related to military Veterans’ mental health in Canada were found, but no policies or guidelines specifically addressing information sharing across these data sets were discovered. Secure, Accessible, eFfective, and Efficient (SAFE) information sharing across these sources was implied but not confirmed. The authors recommend consideration be given to establishing a repository of relevant data sets and policies and guidelines for information sharing and standardization across all relevant data sets.

Moving Toward and Through Trauma: Participant Experiences of Multi-Modal Motion-Assisted Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation (3MDR)

Introduction: Military members and Veterans are at risk of developing combat-related, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder (TR-PTSD) and moral injury (MI). Conventional trauma-focused therapies (TFTs) have shown limited success. Novel interventions including Multi-modal Motion-assisted Memory Desensitization and Reconsolidation therapy (3MDR) may prove successful in treating TR-PTSD.Objective: To qualitatively study the experiences of Canadian military members and Veterans with TR-PTSD who received the 3MDR intervention.Methods: This study explored qualitative data from a larger mixed-method waitlist control trial testing the efficacy of 3MDR in military members and veterans. Qualitative data were recorded and collected from 3MDR sessions, session debriefings and follow-up interviews up to 6 months post-intervention; the data were then thematically analyzed.Results: Three themes emerged from the data: (1) the participants' experiences with 3MDR; (2) perceived outcomes of 3MDR; and (3) keys to successful 3MDR treatment. Participants expressed that 3MDR provided an immersive environment, active engagement and empowerment. The role of the therapist as a coach and “fireteam partner” supports the participants' control over their therapy. The multi-modal nature of 3MDR, combining treadmill-walking toward self-selected trauma imagery with components of multiple conventional TFTs, was key to helping participants engage with and attribute new meaning to the memory of the traumatic experience.Discussion: Preliminary thematic analysis of participant experiences of 3MDR indicate that 3MDR has potential as an effective intervention for combat-related TR-PTSD, with significant functional, well-being and relational improvements reported post-intervention.Conclusion: Military members and Veterans are at risk of developing TR-PTSD, with worse outcomes than in civilians. Further research is needed into 3MDR and its use with other trauma-affected populations.

Socio-cultural dynamics in gender and military contexts: Seeking and understanding change

LAY SUMMARY Today, changing the culture of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is a high priority, so that all members feel respected and included and do not experience discrimination, harassment, or any form of sexual misconduct. This article looks back at the CAF experience with gender integration to see what it shows about what should be done today. Over 20 years ago, many believed the job was done, that the CAF had fully integrated women and welcomed all members, regardless of who they were. Women have served in the Canadian military for several decades; they make important contributions, and there are no formal limitations on how they contribute and what they can achieve. Although policies and practices have changed, too often, some women and men continue to experience discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault. Based on past experience, this article suggests that thinking about different ways of understanding culture in the CAF is important in paving the way for a more inclusive experience for all members.

‘Healthy Relationships’ campaign: Preventing and addressing family and gender-based violence

LAY SUMMARY Canadian military families face distinct challenges due to the military lifestyle, primarily due to relocation, absences and deployments, and risk of injury and death. Tied to these challenges is the intimate partner relationship and the ability of the family unit to thrive. To support families, Military Family Services (MFS) undertook a collaborative process to create a modernized campaign focused on healthy relationships for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, Veterans, and their families. The “Healthy Relationships” campaign is a unique social media campaign centred on positive behaviour change, inspiration, and sharing of real military families’ stories. The campaign sought to shift the narrative from previous anti-family-violence messaging to promoting positive, healthy, and equitable relationships. The campaign was successful in its rollout across bases and wings in Canada, Europe, and the United States.

Posted to Germany: Early Cold War Canadian Military Policy and Its Impact on One Family’s Experience

In the summer of 1954, military surgeon Major Robert Elliott was posted to the British Military Hospital in Iserlohn, Germany, to provide medical care to Canadian soldiers, members of the 5,500-strong Canadian Brigade that had earlier been stationed there as part of Canada’s commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Like many other military families, Elliott’s family had to remain behind until suitable accommodation for them could be found. Based on the letters that Elliott wrote home to his wife during their eight-month separation, this article provides a glimpse of how both old and new Canadian military policies during the early Cold War period had an impact on his work and his family. The Canadian government’s decision to place the Brigade under British control reflected, in part, the long-standing attachment to Britain, but Elliott was often frustrated with how imperial/colonial relations played out in the hospital setting. And the military’s initial reluctance to officially allow dependents to join their loved ones overseas, a new phenomenon in Canadian military life, undoubtedly contributed to his confusion and anxiety over when family quarters would finally be finished.

Resilience-based curriculum for Canadian Military Colleges: An environmental scan and literature review

LAY SUMMARY There is a growing need to recognize resilience as an acquired skill for graduates in higher education, such as universities and colleges, particularly for those entering demanding occupations like the military. To help the administrators of Canada’s Military Colleges (CMCs) make decisions about the development and implementation of resilience programs, the authors carried out a review of current resilience education programs within Ontario universities and the U.S. Federal Service Agencies (U.S. FSAs). Findings showed that only seven Ontario Universities and two U.S. FSAs offered resilience education, with none of these programs having any published scientific reports of their effectiveness (how well they work to improve resilience). This article offers recommendations for CMC administrators to use to build resilience education for Canadian officer and naval cadets.

THE IMAGINED INDEPENDENCE OF CANADA’S INTERNET

Internet scholars are uncovering and connecting military, political and cultural histories of early internets across the globe, including in the US, (Abbate 1999), Chile (Medina 2011) and France (Mailland & Driscoll 2016), respectively. All three approaches inform this history, exploring the Canadian context. On the recommendation of US counterparts at NORAD, a top-secret whitepaper recommended Canada develop a distributed communications network (NORAD 1965), which became SAMSON: Strategic Automatic Message Switching Operational Network. SAMSON developed into an internet, though riddled with a series of setbacks beginning almost immediately, until it was disbanded in 1984. (Canadian Armed Forces 1985). This paper investigates Canada’s internet infrastructural technopolitics through Larkin’s framework of questioning how they “emerge out of and store within them forms of desire and fantasy” (2013, 329). Specifically, it asks how the design, equipment, and network protocols of this Canadian internet embodied the imaginary of Canadian independence from 1965 to 1984, drawing on primary sources from the unpublished documents of the Canadian Armed Forces that have since been declassified. The emergence of the early Canadian internet occurred during a political renewal. At a time of pushback against American and British influence, the Canadian military rejected cooperation with the US, and focused on internal threats over Cold War rivalries (Hatt 1984). By design the Canadian internet was a security apparatus, but the technopolitics embedded in the system dictate who is to be secured against whom. This paper asks how this history persists in Canada’s internet infrastructure today.

Chronic pain: The Canadian Armed Forces Members and Veterans Mental Health Follow-up Survey

LAY SUMMARY Chronic pain is pain that has lasted three to six months or longer. Many people with back pain, migraines, arthritis, and gastrointestinal conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome have chronic pain. The experience of chronic pain may have various negative effects on individuals. Pain may prevent a person from doing everyday tasks such as household chores. Chronic pain is an understudied area of research among military members and Veterans. Thus, the authors explored chronic pain in the Canadian military population. This study looks at the differences in chronic pain conditions among serving personnel and Veterans. The results show that a majority of serving members and Veterans experience chronic pain conditions. Veterans also reported experiencing more chronic pain than serving members.