As military spouses, we often face unique challenges and struggle with life issues and situations that others don’t face. There is a program on the horizon designed for military spouses and it offers resources and a real conversation about our lifestyle and things we need to thrive.

REACH-Spouse is a DoD program designed to serve as an avenue for starting a conversation about these challenges with other military spouses.

The goal of REACH-Spouse is to empower military spouses to take charge of their mental health and well-being.

It also offers insight into what the servicemember goes through by idetifying their challenges and the barriers they face to getting help. There are so many great resources out there that can help military spouses and families!

What is REACH- Spouse all about?

REACH-Spouse is a DoD-wide suicide risk prevention program that aims to get to the left of the boom. Its main goal is to destigmatize mental health and encourage military spouses to seek help early, before their problems spiral out of control. 

Research shows that many spouses still don’t know where to go for help or may not be willing to reach out to resources for help.

REACH-Spouse, aims to fill this gap by removing barriers to care and helping military spouses get the support they need for themselves and for their service member.

The origin of REACH-Spouse

To better understand the program and to get a little context, Mission:Milspouse reached out to Dr. Olga Shechter, Program Manager, Defense Personnel and Security Research Center (A division of the Defense Personnel Analytics Center).

We asked Dr. Shechter why the pilot program is important to the Department of Defense.

“Being a military spouse is no easy feat! Military spouses often encounter numerous barriers to accessing help for mental health, financial stress, relationship, and other military life issues.”

“Barriers to care, whether real or perceived, can prevent military spouses from accessing the help they need, and cause them and their loved ones to suffer in silence.”

“Most importantly, although military spouses frequently serve as gatekeepers of their Service member’s well-being and mental health, they rarely receive any suicide prevention training.”

What does REACH-Spouse stand for and when was it developed?

“Resources Exist, Asking Can Help -Spouse (REACH-Spouse) was developed in 2021 with the goal of destigmatizing mental health help-seeking among military spouses. In 2022, the Defense Personnel Analytics Center in partnership with Military Community and Family Policy,initiated a two-phase field test of REACH-Spouse to evaluate itseffectiveness in reducing military spouses’ perceived barriers to care and increasing their intentions to seek help.”

How will this impact spouses?

“The REACH-Spouse sessions offer a welcoming environment for participants to
openly converse about their unique challenges as military spouses, the obstacles they encounter when seeking mental health support, and the difficulties and hindrances faced by their Service members.”

Dr. Shechter explains the two different sessions offered by REACH-Spouse:

“There are two unique sessions led by a trusted facilitator who could be a military spouse or a civilian:

• Session 1 focuses on military spouses’ barriers to seeking mental health care, resources for addressing these barriers, and self-care practices.
• Session 2 focuses on the service members’ barriers to seeking mental health care and teaches military spouses valuable suicide prevention skills.

“Parents and not just military spouses could attend Session 2, as they are also important gatekeepers.”

Who conducts the REACH-Spouse sessions?

“REACH-Spouse relies on dedicated facilitators who are passionate about mental health and help-seeking and wish to make a difference in the lives of others. Facilitators begin by completing REACH-Spouse facilitator training, which
includes a self-study component followed by a coaching session, where they
receive supportive and constructive feedback.”

“Afterwards, they are ready to start leading REACH-Spouse sessions in the field.”

“Although the pilot study is still in-progress, preliminary observational findings suggest that spouses leave the sessions with a wealth of new information about resources for themselves and their families.”

What is the timeline of implementation if approved?

“Pending approval, the updated REACH-Spouse materials for new facilitators
will be publicly accessible for download starting in April 2024. Military spouses and personnel involved in working with military families will have the opportunity to complete the free training and then lead REACH-Spouse sessions with others in their community.”

Was the development of the program based on specific findings of research or need?

“DoD and the Service branches offer a variety of resources to support military families who are dealing with stressful situations in their lives. Despite the prevalence of these resources, approximately half of all military personnel who need mental health support, particularly for suicide risk, do not access it.” (Office of People Analytics [OPA], 2019).

“Similarly, research shows that up to 44% of military spouses do not receive the mental health care they need.”

“According to data from the Millennium Cohort Family Study, barriers to care encountered by military spouses include a host of practical concerns, from not having time to access care in a timely or regular manner to social or psychological barriers, such as negative beliefs about mental healthcare, fear of social consequences, fear of occupational consequences, and stigma against accessing mental health resources.” (Schvey et al., 2022).

“The findings from the 2020 REACH field test for service members indicate that after attending a REACH session, service members reported reduced barriers to seeking mental health care, improved knowledge about available resources, and greater comfort with reaching out for help in the future.” (Osborn et al., 2020).

What do you want the target audience (spouses) to know about the REACH-Spouse program?

“For interested military spouses, we are offering a unique opportunity to attend an in-person REACH-Spouse session during the month of October. Classes will be held in person on October 23rd, 25th, and the 30th at the USO Warrior Center on Fort Belvoir.”

If you are located in the National Capitol Region (all service branches are welcome!), please email Ms. Kathleen Palmer at dowdkp04@gmail.com if you are interested in attending an in person class.”

If you live outside of NCR and would like to attend a virtual REACH-Spouse session, please e-mail Ms. Emily Mappin at Emily.Mappin@peraton.com to sign up for one!”

*Mission:Milspouse would like to thank Olga and her team for caring about military spouses and providing the training to bring us these resources.

References

Office of People Analytics. (2019). February 2018 Status of Forces Survey of
Active Duty Members: Tabulations of responses (OPA Report No. 2019-014).

Osborn, M. M., Ho, T. E., Baweja, J. A., Neville, A. A., Cooper, A. D.,
Latendresse, B. D., & Shechter, O. G. (2020). Shifting the mindset on help-
seeking in the military: REACH field test results. Defense Personnel and
Security Research Center.

Schvey, N. A., Burke, D., Pearlman, A. T., Britt, T. W., Riggs, D. S.,
Carballo, C., & Stander, V. (2022). Perceived barriers to mental healthcare
among spouses of military service members. Psychological Services, 19(2),
396-405.