For Military, Defense and Health Reporters: RAND Veterans Day Web Resource Now Available

Maintaining an effective military — particularly during concurrent wars — largely depends on the well-being of its service members, veterans and their families. Uncertainty surrounding deployments, long work hours and family separation causes significant stress on military personnel and has negative effects on retention.

In the week leading up to Veterans Day (Nov. 11, 2010), the RAND Corporation has several experts who have conducted research and analysis on the issues that affect veterans, the military, and their families. A web resource highlighting their work is now available at: http://www.rand.org/feature/military-well-being.html. Among the topics the RAND experts can discuss:

• The stresses and challenges faced by military children and spouses (see "Children on the Home Front: The Experiences of Children from Military Families" and "Measuring Underemployment Among Military Spouses")
• The psychological and cognitive injuries suffered by veterans and the services available to them (see "Invisible Wounds of War")
• Post-deployment stress (see "What Families Should Know, What Families Can Do")
• Improving the military child care system (see "Options for Improving the Military Child Care System")

RAND Military Health Research Staff

Terri Tanielian is co-director of the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research and focuses on the psychological and behavioral effects of combat, terrorism and disasters; public health emergency preparedness; and risk communication. She is co-leader of the study "Invisible Wounds of War."

Susan D. Hosek is co-director of the RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research and acting director of the Bing Center for Health Economics. She focuses on military health, military quality of life and health economics.

Lisa H. Jaycox is a senior behavioral scientist and clinical psychologist at RAND with expertise in child and adolescent mental health problems, including depression and reactions to violence exposure, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Anita Chandra is a behavioral scientist at RAND focusing on child and adolescent health; community-based participatory research and evaluation; mental health; public health systems and community resilience.

Grant Marshall is a senior behavioral scientist with expertise in post-traumatic stress disorder, mental health services in disasters, and refugee mental health.

Rajeev Ramchand is a behavioral scientist focusing on military mental health, suicide prevention and substance abuse treatment.

Terry Schell is a behavioral scientist focusing on psychological effects of trauma, violent behavior, and alcohol and drug use.

Gary Cecchine is a RAND natural scientist focusing on military health, homeland security, science and environmental policy, bioterrorism and national security.

The RAND Center for Military Health Policy Research helps the U.S. Department of Defense and Veterans Administration meet the challenges of providing the best care possible to this diverse population, while containing costs.