Topic: Alcohol/Drugs/Tobacco, Deployment, Emotional Competency, Life Stress
Target Population: Service Members
Sector: Work Site
Military Sector: National Guard
This program is for members of the U.S. National Guard and could also be used by other military branches.
Team Readiness, an adaptation of a work site intervention called Team Awareness, is designed to improve communication within and support for Guard units/wings and to address behaviors that impede readiness, such as substance abuse.
No peer-reviewed evaluations of Team Readiness were identified. However, Team Awareness, the program from which Team Readiness was adapted, has been placed as Promising on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence based on the results of several randomized trials.
There are two versions of the Team Readiness program, a 6-hour version and a 2 1/2-hour version. The shorter version consists of five mini modules, which include presentations on the following topics:
Module 1 - Your Raw Coping Power: Evaluate coping ability, examine stress related to deployment and reintegration, and determine if action is needed.
Module 2 - Paths In and Out of Stress: Examine stressors along the career path of Service members and learn signs of ineffective coping and how to get help, if necessary.
Module 3 - Tolerate or Respond?: Address any harmful tolerance of Service members' problems and increase responsiveness to problems by drawing upon military values.
Module 4 - Learning How to Really Listen: Practice effective listening skills to decrease stress, reduce obstacles to positive listening, and improve unit/wing communication.
Module 5 - Do the Right Thing: Weigh costs and benefits of different behaviors and make decisions in favor of healthy communication and the good of the unit/wing.
The longer version of this intervention, which emphasizes development of camaraderie and group cohesion, includes peer referral training using the NUDGE (Notice-Understand-Decide-use Guidelines-Encourage) model. This model encourages Service members to support each other in getting help.
Since 2008, Team Readiness has been implemented in more than 30 states with over 20,000 Service members in the National Guard.
Prevention Coordinators, who have been certified as Team Readiness facilitators, present this program, and training is required. Online training to implement mini modules is delivered in 2 half-day sessions and costs $795 per person for a minimum of three participants. Training information for the program's longer version is available by contacting the program developer using details found in the Contact section.
Considerations for implementing this program include acquiring supervisor/administrator buy-in, hiring staff and understanding they will need to obtain training, and allocating time and space for program delivery.
The Clearinghouse can help address these considerations. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
If you are interested in implementing Team Readiness, the Clearinghouse is interested in helping you!
Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Each of the mini modules requires 20 to 30 minutes to deliver; facilitators choose some or all modules based on unit needs. The 6-hour version is delivered in one to two sessions.
The program manual with CD-ROM costs $39.95 per facilitator for the mini modules and $129.95 per facilitator for the 6-hour version. Customization assistance is $195 per hour.
To move the Team Readiness program to the Promising category on the Clearinghouse Continuum of Evidence, at least one evaluation should be performed demonstrating positive effects lasting at least six months from program completion.
The Clearinghouse can help you develop an evaluation plan to ensure the program components are meeting your goals. Please call 1-877-382-9185 or email Clearinghouse@psu.edu
Contact the Clearinghouse with any questions regarding this program.
Phone: 1-877-382-9185 Email: Clearinghouse@psu.edu
You may also contact Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems by phone 1-817-921-4260, email owls@organizationalwellness.com, or visit https://organizationalwellness.com/pages/contact
https://www.theathenaforum.org/sites/default/files/team_awareness_4-21-12.pdf, https://organizationalwellness.com/, and Dr. Joel Bennett (personal communication, March 15, 2013; March 18, 2013).
