"To Conserve Fighting Strength": The Role of Military Culture in the Delivery of Care

There are ongoing discussions about reorganizing the delivery of health care within the US Armed Forces. The military cultural context of care has beneficial qualities for patients with orthopedic and extremity trauma acquired during deployments to conflict zones.

The study included 35 participants with lower limb amputations who had been discharged from the Amputee Patient Care Program ≥ 12 months prior to the study. Participants were interviewed using a lightly structured schedule designed to elicit accounts of community integration, which attended to reports of belongingness supported by accounts of social engagement in work, school, family, and social events. Interviews were analyzed using a modified content analysis approach.

Participants generally described their postcare lives as "successful" that had been built on "good outcomes." For most former patients, remembering the social intensity of their rehabilitation program was an important element in their narratives of recovery. Weekly amputee clinics worked to alleviate stress and anxiety in participants' minds around the complexities of their injuries and care.

Participants reported that features of their care were particularly valuable to their recovery and their current assessment of their injury related health. These features are present, in part because of the military cultural context that is part of the framework of care delivery.