Finding the Military Connected Child in Your Practice

By: COL(Ret) Catherine Kimball-Eayrs, MD, FAAP

Vignette: Your next appointment is a new patient Jane Johnson. You enter the room and find the patient there with her father. Her dad reports that the mother is active duty Navy and currently deployed. He and Jane have moved back home to be with family during the deployment. He is concerned because Jane is having a lot of abdominal pain and keeps crying about missing her mom. Where do you even start…

Approximately four million children are considered military connected (their Sponsors are active duty, reserve, National Guard or retired) and studies have shown that about 50% of those children receive care in the civilian sector. Unfortunately, many of these providers are not aware of the different culture in which many military connected children exist and the multitude of resources that are there to help. Hopefully, this article will help change that.

Of course, you must find a way to identify these patients to your practice. Certainly having a question as part of your screening process (is your child connected to the military in some way?) and a way to document in the record is probably the most consistent. Flagging patients that use Tricare as their health insurance is another way of making the identification, though you may miss children who use other health insurance as their primary payer. Using that identification to be able to ask culture specific questions like is there an upcoming deployment or move can ensure that these patients get the care and services they need.

Your best resource is the newly released AAP Clinical Report on Health and Mental Health Needs of Children in US Military Families. It is a wealth of background and resources right at your fingertips as an AAP member. The report helps to identify unique culture issues that military connected kids might experience, define a number of terms that can be confusing to those not directly connected to the military and delineate a variety of resources available to all military connected families.

Many important resources can be directly accessed through militaryonesource.mil. This webpage is a wealth of resources that includes links to free counseling, parenting consultations, Sesame Street videos around deployment and loss and so much more. It is a great place to start if you are just not sure how to help. In addition, the AAP Section on Uniformed Services has almost a 1000 uniformed and civilian pediatricians who can serve as an additional resource for questions.

In the end, military connected children have all the normal needs of any other child their age. Being aware of their military connected status ensures they get the highest level of culturally competent care you can provide, which is always our goal.

Disclaimer: The opinions and assertions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Uniformed Services University or the Department of Defense.