Project Safe Guard: Challenges and opportunities of a universal rollout of peer-delivered lethal means safety counseling at a US military installation.

INTRODUCTION: The US Department of Defense recommends lethal means safety counseling (LMSC) to promote firearm injury prevention via secure storage of personal firearms. We describe the rollout of a universal, peer-delivered adaptation of Project Safe Guard (PSG)-a brief, single-session LMSC discussion-at a US Space Force installation. METHOD: Program evaluation data were collected via anonymous, voluntary, and online surveys. Of approximately 862 eligible active-duty service members and embedded civilians, 324 completed the preprogram survey and 68 and 37 completed the 1- and 2-month follow-ups, respectively. RESULTS: At preprogram, 69.1% agreed that peer-delivered LMSC is appropriate. After rollout, 100% of the 222 firearm locking devices available to service members were requested from the on-base Violence Prevention Integrator. The effectiveness of PSG was indeterminable due to the low survey response rates. CONCLUSIONS: Despite strong preprogram support for peer-delivered LMSC and behavioral indicators of secure firearm storage (e.g., firearm locking device requests), several challenges limited the uptake and evaluability of the PSG program in this naturalistic environment, including military survey fatigue and competing mission priorities. Additional work is needed to determine the effectiveness of peer-delivered LMSC in a military context. Sustained base support and military-civilian collaborations will be critical.

Improving Support for Veteran Women: Veterans' Issues in Focus.

Women's military experiences and post-service needs often differ from those of men. More research focused on this population will help ensure that policies and programs adequately support veteran women's transitions from military to civilian life.

How the Dobbs Decision Could Affect U.S. National Security.

Women are an integral part of the military, comprising 17.2 percent of the active-duty force. They are the fastest-growing subpopulation in the military. In recent years, the Department of Defense (DoD) and military services have been deliberately recruiting women because they represent a higher percentage of the recruitable population than their male counterparts. Service women and their civilian counterparts have been and are serving in roles that are essential to military readiness. The Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court ruling will limit service women's and DoD civilian women's access to reproductive health care and affect the health of these critical populations. In this article, the authors use publicly available data to provide an estimate of the scope of the effects of the decision on the health and readiness of the U.S. armed forces. They estimate how many military-employed women's reproductive health options have been or might soon be limited and identify force readiness-related concerns, such as effects on the military health care, education, and child care systems, as well as on military recruiting and retention.

Mindful Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and AIDS: Behavioral Medicine for Patient Resilience and Improved Screening Practices.

Complementary techniques are useful in treating adverse symptoms of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS, and in preventing disease spread by encouraging screening. This study indicates that HIV diagnosis rates are higher in states where behavioral medicine is practiced; participation in such activities may influence the extent to which someone might closely monitor personal health. A strong evidence-base exists for the recommendation of mindfulness practices that improve rates of primary preventive practices and self-reported quality of life for participants living with chronic conditions such as HIV and AIDS. Access to such programs is an area for future research and practice.