UK military families with a dependent who has Special Education Needs and/or Disability (SEND): a forgotten sub-population?

• Published in: BMJ military health Vol. 167; no. 6; pp. 375 - 377
• Main Authors: Taylor-Beirne, Sean, Fear, N T
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 01.12.2021; BMJ Publishing Group LTD
• Subjects: Armed forces; child & adolescent psychiatry; Children & youth; developmental neurology & neurodisability; Disability; Editorial; Education; Education, Special; epidemiology; health policy; Humans; Medical research; Mental disorders; mental health; Mental health care; Military Family; Population; public health; Siblings; United Kingdom; United Kingdom; United Kingdom > UK; epidemiology; child & adolescent psychiatry; health policy; developmental neurology & neurodisability; mental health; public health
• ISSN: 2633-3767; 2633-3775
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjmilitary-2020-001709

Correspondence to Capt. Sean Taylor-Beirne, Academic Department for Military Mental Health Research, King's Centre for Military Health Research, London SE5 9RJ, UK; sean.1.taylor-beirne@kcl.ac.uk Introduction Military families research has enjoyed a resurgence in the past decade, leading to an improved understanding of the unique stressors associated with military family life.1 Exposures such as parental separation, frequent family re-location,2 increased risk of paternal common mental health disorder3 and post traumatic stress disorder, or alcohol misuse4 have been widely investigated leading to an evidence-base that has informed effective policy-making and intervention. Child psychological and educational functioning within this sub-population remains un-investigated. [...]no papers were found that capture the lived-experience of the UK SEND military family population. [...]the resultant prevalence data from this process is problematic and would likely underestimate the true rate. SEND military families, however, must also contend with frequent and prolonged separation from the serving parent, either through lengthy operational deployment or multiple military training exercises.18 Moreover, many SEND military families choose not to accompany their service person during the working week and live in a separate, fixed location in order to achieve educational and medical continuity for their child.19 This ‘weekending’ arrangement is associated with increased parental stress and poorer outcomes across the military family.19 Frequent or prolonged parental absence, either via operational deployment or non-operational training, can be particularly disruptive to a SEND family as it impedes the involvement of one parent in their child’s care; placing an additional burden on the remaining family members.5 No papers were found in the academic literature that describe how UK SEND military families cope with the adjustment of prolonged parental separation.