The Experiences of Families and Children of Ill and Injured Canadian Armed Forces Members: Perspectives from Parents and Service Providers

ABSTRACT

Above and beyond the stressors associated with military life (e.g., deployment), having a parent who is an ill or injured military member can also impact children's health and well-being. Programs that help foster resilience can provide military families the necessary coping skills to face these stressors. The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences and care involved for children and families of ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members through the perspective of parents and service providers. A total of 14 parents from 11 bases participated in interviews. In addition, 28 service providers from Military Family Resource Centres, which provide resilience-based programs to families, participated in focus groups, an interview, or filled out a questionnaire. This study provides two unique perspectives of children of ill and injured members, with potential use for future studies and educational programs provided by military family services.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• operational stress injury
• post-traumatic stress disorder
• Military Family Resource Centre
• parents
• subject matter experts
• Canadian Armed Forces
• military family
• military
• illness
• injury

Notes

¹ For more information on programs offered by the MFRC, please consult Urban (2015) and Tanner, Aker, Otis, and Wang (2008).