Occupational Therapy for Servicemember and Veteran Recovery, Resilience, and Reintegration: Opportunities for Societal Contribution and Professional Transformation

LTC Teresa L. Brininger, PhD, OTR/L, CHT, is Clinical Scientist, U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, PA; Teresa.Brininger@us.army.mil Approximately 2.6 million members of the all-volunteer Armed Forces have served in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2001, and almost half have been deployed more than once (Carino, 2013). Many return home with traumatic brain injury, stress disorders, amputations, burns, and musculoskeletal injuries and attendant occupational dysfunction. Although many servicemembers easily adjust to life after deployment, others with and without injuries struggle to resume family life, work, and community engagement (i.e., occupations of daily life; Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010); the concurrent disruption and strain are multiplied manyfold when one considers the implications for spouses and children, including health effects, family violence, and economic burden (IOM, 2013). These facts present fundamental questions: What can we do as a profession to honor the service and sacrifice of our fellow citizens? What are the societal responsibilities of our profession? We propose that two parallel strategies have the transformative potential of post– WorldWar I reconstruction aides (Gutman, 1995; Low, 1992) in terms of improving client outcomes and shaping the profession itself: (1) the use of traditional and novel methods of therapeutic occupation to address occupational dysfunction among servicemembers and veterans and (2) the rigorous study of its impact on recovery, resilience, and reintegration. The articles included in this special issue of the American Journal of Occupational Therapy suggest that we are making inroads toward the first objective.Hwang, Peyton, Kim,Nakama-Sato, and Noble (2014) describe postdeployment driving stress, and Classen, Monahan, Canonizado, and Winter (2014) offer preliminary evidence regarding results of an intervention for driving-related errors. Rogers, Mallinson, and Peppers (2014) showcase the feasibility of a high-intensity sports intervention and its potential impact on symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and transition to civilian life. Tomar and Stoffel (2014) elucidate the experience of veterans who assume student roles. Speicher, Walter, and Chard (2014) describe occupational performance outcomes of a residential treatment program for PTSD and traumatic brain injury, and Smith et al. (2014) provide a preliminary report on the development of a multitasking assessment to inform readiness for duty after concussion. Finally, Cogan (2014) articulates the needs of military families and an expanded role for occupational therapy in mental health care. Much work remains to be done in establishing the impact of occupational therapy on recovery, resilience, and reintegration related to war injuries and the transition to civilian life. In general, even though many servicemembers and veterans LTC Teresa L. Brininger, PhD, OTR/L, CHT Mary Vining Radomski, PhD, OTR/L, FAOTA