Deployment Processing of Combat Veterans and Information Sharing Perceptions of PTSD Preparation during Mobilizatio

A general problem during time of war is the various effectiveness of pre- and postdeployment healthcare screenings to ensure Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) education for combat soldiers. The main purpose of this dissertation is to explore how helpful 13 Iraqi and Afghanistan veterans found the pre- and postdeployment healthcare screening for PTSD at four selected U.S. Army forts and its influence on their life after war. The research questions were written to investigate how Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans perceived the information provided on PTSD during healthcare screenings before and after deployment and how their perceptions influenced their adjustment, first, to combat, and then to civilian life. The phenomenological design of the study involved eliciting from combat veterans their perceptions about their healthcare processing and education on PTSD. Data analysis of the transcribed data occurred with the help of NVivo qualitative software program. Based upon the transcripts of the interviews of combat veterans, four themes emerged: (a) the uneven influence of deployment health screening, and (b) the need for information sharing of PTSD. The final two themes were (c) the need for information alignment about PTSD, and (d) the importance of demonstrated commitment to the soldiers. The results indicated the need to standardize the screening processes at military bases to ensure transparency in information sharing about PTSD before and after war. A strategic approach to collaborating with personnel and information can simultaneously create a positive influence on understanding, treating, and managing PTSD as it relates to war.