Suchergebnisse

Introduction: Most military families experience mandatory relocation, or posting, several times during their military career. For Canadian military families, who must access provincial or territorial health care systems, maintaining reasonable continuity of care is a persistent issue. Such challenges may be amplified when a child in a military family has special needs within the health and educational systems. The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain a better understanding of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) families' experiences in navigating health care systems on behalf of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), in the context of mandatory relocation, and to determine their recommendations for improved system navigation. Methods: Parents of children with ASD, where at least one parent serves in the CAF and had faced military-related relocation, were recruited. Semi-structured interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed thematically. Results: A total of 13 participants represented 12 families and 15 children with ASD. Participants discussed two primary ways to support military families: (1) Improve communication between military-connected families with children with ASD, and (2) Improve transition coordination. Discussion: The recommendations made by military families echo those made in clinical professional association reports and recent Canadian research. International policy initiatives to offset the impacts of military family relocation may serve as examples to adapt to the provincial and territorial jurisdictions for both health and education in Canada.

A recent scoping review indicated military-connected children face stressors that may increase mental health issues. However, the majority of the included literature was American. To examine the experiences of Canadian military-connected children, we conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of Canadian military-connected youth using a qualitative description approach. We conducted a content analysis on interview data, supported by qualitative data analysis software (MAXQDA), with coding done by two researchers who met regularly to discuss coding agreement. Thirteen children in military families participated and described the mental health impact of frequent mobility, parental absence, and risk of parental injury. The experiences of our participants were consistent with the results of an earlier scoping review on this topic. Our results suggest improving military cultural competence among health care providers and enhancing parental support may positively impact child well-being. More research is needed to understand resilience and vulnerability among Canadian military-connected children.