Military
Population Health

CAMRIS researchers and support personnel examine trends, patterns, and cause and effect relationships of military life, work exposures, environment, deployment, and job duties on overall health, disease state, and injury in military populations. Our team uses epidemiology data to assist the DOD in decreasing variations in the assessment of complex medical issues, such as psychological health screening and diagnosis, to ensure everyone that can benefit from interventions are properly identified and have treatment options. Our findings and accompanying recommendations provide valuable information to the DOD for the creation of policy, acquisition of new protective equipment and standards, novel intervention techniques, and health promotion programs.

The DOD and MHS have made readiness of the Force their primary goal for 2019 and beyond. With service members experiencing more repeat and longer deployments, and at home dwell times shortening, the military has seen a sharp increase in reported psychological health-related problems and issues with reintegration to family and civilian life. Our scientific and clinical experts work to develop a more in-depth psychological analysis of the “what” and “why” of issues, such as anxiety, depression, suicidality, and PTSD, and then build customized strategies and interventions to optimize the resilience, psychological health, and emotional fitness of the warfighter and their families. Our research and clinic professionals play an integral part in assisting the DOD to hone their overall strategy for Force health and readiness by providing much needed state-of-the-science, comprehensive analysis, and medical outcomes for effective policy creation, validation of new preventive treatments, and reintegration and quality of life programs.

Numerous published studies indicate that military service-related experiences may result in both immediate and delayed health effects. Immediate health issues are more easily and readily addressed, whereas, an understanding of the underlying, long-term health consequences of Service remains incomplete. CAMRIS experts in the fields of epidemiology, public health, industrial hygiene, occupational health, and preventive medicine endeavor to understand better in-Service exposures, stressors, work environments, and the overall impact to health that these exposures may cause. By teaming with DOD, VA, and the civilian health sector, our research team can conduct more comprehensive studies for the entire DOD – active duty, reservists, retirees, and dependents – providing an increased number of cohorts across a longer span. This approach allows military experiences to be tracked over the years, during and after service, enabling CAMRIS to deliver critical data to inform DOD and MHS strategies and promote better healthcare prevention and treatment protocols for military members throughout their service and life.