The Road to Reintegration: Status and Continuing Support of the U.S. Air Force's Wounded, Ill, and Injured

The U.S. Air Force asked RAND Project AIR FORCE (PAF) to help assess the well-being of its wounded members and the quality of services provided to facilitate their recovery and reintegration. RAND PAF fielded a survey in the fall of 2016 to assess wounded airmen's functioning in the domains of physical health, mental health, interpersonal relationships, unemployment, and financial status, as well as their utilization and perceptions of Air Force nonmedical programs for wounded airmen. The authors of this study invited all 713 wounded airmen enrolled in the Air Force Wounded Warrior program to complete the survey, and 270 airmen (38 percent) completed it. One-third of airmen reported difficulty obtaining care for physical or mental health conditions, and one-quarter expressed dissatisfaction with coordination of care. Similar proportions of airmen reported barriers to care for physical and mental health conditions. Difficulty scheduling appointments was the most commonly endorsed barrier for both types of conditions. Small but notable proportions of airmen reported potential social support deficits, unemployment, and financial problems. For many of the Air Force's programs for wounded airmen, over 80 percent of program users reported overall program satisfaction. The authors recommend that the Air Force consider focusing on improving care coordination, increasing health care system capacity, continuing employment assistance, and improving marketing of programs with low uptake.