History and implementation of the Fort Lewis Soldier Wellness Assessment Program (SWAP).
The Department of Defense mandates a health reassessment at 90 to 180 days following return from deployment. Essential components include a review of mental and physical health symptoms and follow-up referral. Fort Lewis developed a program that exceeds these basic requirements to provide additional screening and on-site services, including face-to-face visits with a credentialed mental health provider for all soldiers. This program, the Soldier Wellness Assessment Program (SWAP), also extends these services to the predeployment window (120 to 45 days) to identify problems before deployment early enough to treat them. Data from the anonymous SWAP Quality Improvement Questionnaire (N=7880) suggested that the majority of service members felt their experience at the SWAP increased their willingness to seek out behavioral health (BH) services in the future, if needed. SWAP provides a model for a deployment-related individual mental health visit for all soldiers, customized for their specific health concerns.
Gahm
Gregory A
GA
Defense Centers of Excellence, Telehealth and Technology Directorate, OMAMC Bldg 9933A, Tacoma, WA 98431-1100, USA.
Swanson
Robert D
RD
Lucenko
Barbara A
BA
Reger
Mark A
MA
D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D001523:Mental Disorders; D008603:Mental Health; D008887:Military Medicine; D008889:Military Personnel; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011594:Psychometrics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States