Articles: health.
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Considering the potential of weaponized opioids, evaluating how prophylactic countermeasures affect military-relevant performance is necessary. Naltrexone is a commercially available Food and Drug Administration-approved medication that blocks the effects of opioids with minimal side effects. However, the effects of naltrexone on the health and performance of non-substance abusing military personnel are not well described in the existing literature. ⋯ Temporary (7-day) daily use of naltrexone was safe and did not negatively affect physical performance, cognitive functioning, marksmanship ability, or sleep in a healthy cohort of U.S. Army Soldiers.
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Like civilian health systems, the United States Military Health System (MHS) confronts challenges in achieving the aims of reducing cost, and improving quality, access, and safety, but historically has lacked coordinated health services research (HSR) capabilities that enabled knowledge translation and iterative learning from its wealth of data. A military-civilian academic partnership called the Comparative Effectiveness and Provider-Induced Demand Collaboration (EPIC), formed in 2011, demonstrated early proof-of-concept in using the MHS claims database for research focused on drivers of variation in health care. This existing partnership was reorganized in 2015 and its topics expanded to meet the need for HSR in support of emerging priorities and to develop current and HSR capacity within the MHS. ⋯ EPIC, through its Donabedian framework and utilization of the MHS Data Repository as a research tool, generates actionable findings and builds capacity for continued HSR across the MHS. Eight years after its reorganization in 2015, EPIC continues to provide a platform for capacity building and knowledge translation.
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A substantial proportion of adults in the U.S. criminal justice system are military veterans. Justice-involved veterans are of particular public concern given their service to the country and the high rates of health and social problems in the general veteran population. This article describes the development of a national research agenda for justice-involved veterans. ⋯ The intent of sharing this research agenda is to spur stakeholders to conduct, collaborate, and support further study in these areas.
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During exercises or operations, there may be times when U.S. medical capabilities are not available and the next best or only option may be to use partner nation (PN) or host nation capabilities. Joint Publication 4-02 Joint Health Services states that "medical planners should always consider the quality, suitability, and availability of multinational and host-nation support." It is normal practice for medical planners to survey PN medical capabilities as part of the pre-deployment planning process. Currently, medical capability surveys are not conducted in a consistent and systematic manner across the DoD global health engagement enterprise. The lack of a systematic approach undermines medical operations planners' ability to conduct efficient and adequate pre-deployment surveys. ⋯ There are significant inconsistencies in the types of capabilities and services documented and how the quality of the capabilities and services is characterized. These inconsistencies can be attributed, in part, to the absence of information that explicitly confirmed whether or not the facility had a capability. Such variation results in obscured or incomplete depictions of facility capabilities, thereby undermining the ability of medical planners to coordinate effective medical readiness for engagements, exercises, or real-life operations. Guidance and survey templates could support better-informed decision-making by including information about survey methods and documenting the lack of confirmatory information. The DoD enterprise should consider how guidance and a standard survey template could improve the relevance, accuracy, and efficiency of data collection and reporting.