Feasibility of telephone support groups for spouses of returning Iraq and Afghanistan Service members

Reintegration of the returning Service member and the family can be difficult, especially for families that are not near military resources. We tested a telephone support group intervention targeted to spouses, providing them with information about combat consequences and reintegration concerns, skills to manage the tasks of reintegration such as role negotiation and to take care of themselves such as stress management, and support from other spouses. Our strategy was to focus on the spouse as the lynchpin of the family who would manage the transition and reintegration process and to provide the intervention using a low cost, established, and widely accessible technology. Telephone support groups proved feasible for this group of spouses, and they learned skills to help their families and themselves with reintegration tasks.