tBrad J. Badgley, M.Ed.U.S. Air Force Veteran

Senior Health Promotion SpecialistAlice! Health Promotion, Columbia University

Wellness Needs of Military Students Coalition Past-Chair

Lorri Castro-ZenoniDirector, Health & Wellness Services

Salt Lake Community CollegeWellness Needs of Military Students Coalition Chair

Applying the Socioecological Model to Enhance Programs and Services for

Student-Veterans in a College Health Environment

Common Themes for Student-Veterans• Experienced war in an area of conflict or stress• Potential mental and social difficulty• PTSD symptoms are not untypical • Financial aid issues are common• Lack of knowledgeable campus staff and/or available resources• Transitional issues are common• Housing needs unmet• Child-care and spouse/partner needs• Veteran-specific orientation • Identity perspectives and student engagement

• (Student-veteran organization on campus)

• Classroom dynamics• Interpersonal relationships• Potentially higher risk population for alcohol misuse

Obstacles Are Different For Every Veteran• Combat stress reactions• Boredom, missing the adrenaline rush• Low frustration tolerance or impatience• Frustration over missed or lost time due to length of

deployment or service• Difficulty concentrating• High alertness with difficulty relaxing or finding safety• Feeling out of place• Having difficulty developing new relationships, particularly

with people who haven’t gone through the same experiences as the veteran

• Anxiety about being re-deployed• Anxiety in general, about being a new student

Setting the ToneSetting the Tone• Positive

Promote achievable behaviors Nurture/support, beneficial, constructive, hopeful, optimistic

• Inclusive Include all elements of the target population Incorporating, embracing, involving, comprehensive,

multicultural Abstainer, user, abuser, celibate, monogamous, promiscuous,

thin, overweight, in-between, etc…• Empowering

Affirm and encourage rather than scare and blame

Adapted from the work of Michael Haines, Northern Illinois University (Media PIE)

•What makes some Veteran Students healthy and others unhealthy?

• How can we create a campus community in which Veteran Students have a chance to be healthy and live long, healthy lives?

Student-Veterans & Higher Education

Where Are Some Areas Higher Education Can Improve Service to Student-Veterans?

•Assisting military students with their transition to the college environment.

• Only 22 percent of postsecondary institutions with services for military students and veterans provide transition assistance.

•Providing professional development for faculty and staff on the transitional needs of military students.

• Approximately two out of five schools that serve military students and veterans provide training opportunities for faculty and staff to be better able to assist these students with their transitional issues.

• Based on data from: "From Soldier to Student: Easing the Transition of Service Members on Campus“.

Student-Veterans & Higher Education• Improving Service Continued….• Training staff to meet the needs of military students with brain

injuries and other disabilities.• Twenty-three percent of colleges and universities that serve military students

and veterans have staff who are trained to assist veterans with brain injuries, and 33 percent have staff trained to assist veterans with other physical disabilities.

• Streamlining campus administrative procedures for veterans returning from military deployments.

• Only 22 percent of institutions with programs and services for military personnel have developed an expedited re-enrollment process to help students restart their academic efforts.

• Providing opportunities for veterans to connect with their peers. • Only 32 percent of institutions with services for veterans and military

personnel have a club or other organization for these students.

• Based on data from: "From Soldier to Student: Easing the Transition of Service Members on Campus”.

Where Do I Start?• Programs• Services• Policies• Activities• Prevention initiatives• Barriers• Assets and resources• Institutional climate

• Campus and cultural norms• Available data• Research• Assessment• Partners or potential

partners• Others….

Strategic Thinking

Casting a Wide Net

NationalStateCommunityCampus

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Characteristics of current things that work

Weaknesses (or Limitations): Characteristics that place current efforts at a disadvantage

relative to othersOpportunities:

External chances to improve initiatives or performance (e.g. data driven), can be environmental

Threats: External elements in the environment that could cause trouble

Socioecological Model

• An ecological approach focuses on both population-level and individual-level determinants of health and interventions. • It considers issues that are community-based

and not just individually focused.• Health is determined by influences at multiple

levels (e.g., public policy, community, institutional, interpersonal, and intrapersonal factors)

Campus Ecology• Campus ecology provides a multifaceted view of the connections

among health, learning, productivity, and campus structure.• Campus ecology identifies environmental factors and influences,

which interact and affect individual behavior. • These factors may be the physical setting or place, the human

aggregate or characteristics of the people, organizational and social climate, and/or characteristics of the surrounding community. Because significant and dynamic interrelationships exist among these different levels of health determinants, interventions are most likely to be effective when they address determinants at all levels.

• Historically, the health field has focused on individual-level health determinants and interventions.

Health Status & Behavior

• In the ecological model, health status and behavior are the outcomes of interest and viewed as being determined by the following:

• Public policy• Community• Institutional factors• Interpersonal processes and primary group• Intrapersonal factors

Group Activity

• 5 Groups• Intrapersonal• Interpersonal• Institutional• Community• Public Policy

Overcoming Institutional Challenges to Create Opportunities Think about what you

can do rather than what you can’t

Change is complex Requires individual &

environmental change Stay true to the mission,

vision, and core values of your organization

Develop corroborating evidence of effectiveness

Try to improve a little bit each year

Align with best practices

New member orientation

Relationship building Utilize social media &

social marketing to connect (effectively)

Success driven-system Expectations for

excellence

Other Thoughts on Working with

Student-Veterans Seek first to understand, then to be understood Student-centered

If you try being everything to everyone you end up being no one to anyone

Widen your lens, but narrow your focus

One size does not fit all Open and transparent

process Be creative and think

outside the box Share resources,

knowledge, and experiences

Be real and honest with student-veterans Builds trust & greater credibility

No need to “recreate the wheel”

Move away from scare tactics They don’t work

Data and theory MUST inform practice

The devil is in the details Ask questions Get involved with veteran

community

Tips for Talking With VeteransConversation Starters What was your job and where did you go while in the

military? How are you and your family doing?

Inappropriate Questions Did you kill anyone? Did you see anyone die? Are you glad that you're back? Do you have to go back? Do you think we are winning?

Moving Forward

• Process oriented• Crafting vision & mission• Developing goals & objectives• Plotting a strategy• Identifying key stakeholders• Plan for and measure change

ACHA Coalition for the Wellness Needs of Military Veteran Students

Purpose• To support ACHA’s core value to support social justice, human dignity, and

respect for all by ensuring that ACHA maintains an active group of multi-disciplinary individuals committed to raising the concerns of military veteran students.

• To help college health professionals identify the unique needs of student veterans as they transition from non-military life as first time or returning college students.

• To encourage college health professionals to develop culturally competent health services that are reflective of the unique health needs of military veteran students.

• To be a mechanism for the exchange of information, resources, and tools to address the health concerns of student veterans and professional concerns of college health professionals.

• To identify, generate, and disseminate best practices addressing the unique health needs of student veterans.

• To provide continuing education, advocacy, and professional development across ACHA as it relates to the wellness needs of military veteran students.

Questions?

• Thank you

• Contacts:

• Brad J. Badgley• bjb2153@columbia.edu

• Lorri Castro-Zenoni• Lorri.Castro-Zenoni@slcc.edu