Discussion 1: barriers to seeking services | SOCW 6410 – Military Culture for Social Workers | Walden University

Imagine the following realistic response by a military family member frustrated by her inability to obtain the medical services her child needs:

“What do you mean you do not accept Tricare? My husband is deployed. The base clinic is closed and I have to get medicine for my child. She has an infection and high fever. These are military people standing on the front line for you and you won’t accept my insurance?”

Reflect back to earlier in the course when you read about the demographics of military personnel. Many military personnel are young, often with young families. With the exception of high-ranking officials, enlisted personnel do not typically expect to make high salaries in their military careers. There are perks, such as health care benefits, tuition assistance, and services, but there may be gaps in services. There may be occasions in which a family needs more than what they can obtain on a military installation.

Within the military culture, many military personnel and their families experience barriers when seeking additional services. Draw upon the knowledge that you have gained throughout this course. Consider what you know about the culture, attitudes, benefits, and provisions provided for military personnel and their families. Consider what barriers might exist for military personnel and their families to seek additional services outside the military installation.

POST (2 to 3 pages)

1. Post a description of two barriers that military personnel and their families may face when seeking needed services (e.g., financial, emotional, logistical, or social). 
2. Use the resources or an article of your choice to support your answer.
3.  Then provide one recommendation you might make to address one of the barriers you selected.
4. Be sure to support your post with specific references to the resources. If you are using additional articles, be sure to provide full APA-formatted citations for your references.

Required Readings

Blaisure, K. R., Saathoff-Wells, T., Pereira, A., MacDermid Wadsworth, S., & Dombro, A. L. (2016). Serving military families (2nd ed.). New York: NY: Routledge.
Chapter 11, “Policies and Programs that Support Military Families” (pp. 259-285)
Chapter 12, “Civilian Organizations that Support Military Families” (pp. 287-306)
Chapter 14, “Serving Military Families” (pp. 335-348)

Lunasco, T. K., Goodwin, E. A., Ozanian, A. J., & Loflin, E. M. (2010). One Shot-One Kill: A culturally sensitive program for the warrior culture. Military Medicine, 175(7), 509–513.

McFaling, L., D’Angelo, M., Drain, M., Gibbs, D. A., & Rae Olmsted, K. L. (2011). Stigma as a barrier to substance abuse and mental health treatment. Military Psychology, 23(1), 1–5.