Name
AFMS Support to Optimize Airmen & Guardian Performance – Bridging the Gaps
Date & Time
Wednesday, February 14, 2024, 3:20 PM - 4:20 PM
Description

There are approximately 325k Active Duty Airmen and Guardians spread across the globe at 88 installations. Not all healthcare services are available at every location. How are we working to expand and more efficiently utilize resources to support our Airmen and Guardians? There is a nationwide shortage of mental health providers, which significantly impacts recruitment and hiring of military and civilian mental health providers while straining network capabilities. Over the last 10 years, Air Force mental health clinic staffing has not changed, while the number of mental health intakes has doubled in the AF and our off-base referrals have tripled. Of these intakes, 80% do not meet the criteria for clinical mental health care. This strain is further compounded by the desire to embed MH providers into line units. The Targeted Care (TC) initiative addresses this issue by (1) vectoring members who present with non-clinical concerns to appropriate non-clinical resources, (2) employing group therapy, and (3) prioritizing remission and case closure. In a 5-month pilot, bases vectored up to half of the members who presented for non-clinical care, recapturing 1,236 individual appointments for clinical MH care. Targeted Care has since rolled out across the AFMS and was highlighted by the US Senate Armed Services Committee (USSASC) in their FY23 NDAA report as a “much-needed innovation.” As such, it is now required across the MHS, with DHA successfully piloting the program at Army and Navy locations. Approximately 13% of Department of Air Force (DAF) members are Q-coded, indicating that they have family members with special needs. DAF-wide, approximately 10% of Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) travel requests return as “travel not recommended,” but this ranges from 0 to 36% when looking at individual bases. The Developmental and Behavioral Family Readiness Center (DBFRC) program was created to enhance the regional readiness capabilities for Air Force families enrolled in the EFMP by providing support to local providers, gap-fill local services, video telehealth appointments, and as-needed itinerant support to give developmental and behavioral care when and where it is needed, reduce the need for Dependent Travel Not Approved decisions, and decrease the need for compassionate reassignments. The DBFRC is set up in a hub-spoke model where the developmental and behavioral specialists are stationed at a central location (hub) and provide care at that location in addition to remote or underserved locations (spokes) through video telehealth and periodic in-person visits. Integrated Operational Support (IOS) is a DAF strategy that incorporates the tenets of Total Force Fitness (TFF) to strengthen resilience and optimize human performance in service members. IOS programs encompass the human performance spectrum, from preventive and performance enhancement to low-acuity healthcare services directly within operational units or training environments. These programs are line funded and AFMS coordinates policy and compliance with quality and safety regarding these services. Recent interest from senior leaders have resulted in efforts to evaluate how to efficiently utilize existing assets and increase DAF-wide access to embedded team support to enhance the resilience and readiness of the force.

Location Name
Baltimore 1-2
View Slides Deck 1
Content Presented on Behalf of
Air Force
Learning Outcomes
1)Describe how Targeted Care helps to connect members to the right care to address their mental health concerns.
2)Describe how Developmental and Behavioral Family Readiness Centers (DBFRC) function to allow certain Q-coded members and their families greater latitude in assignment locations.
3)Describe the scope of embedded healthcare within operational units and its impact to improving medically ready and ready medical Airmen/Guardians.
Session Type
Breakout
CE/CME Session
CE/CME Session
Dropdown Content Presented On Behalf Of:
Air Force