Operation BRAVE Families: A preventive approach to lessening the impact of war on military families through preclinical engagement

Objectives: Operation Building Resilience and Valuing Empowered Families (OBF) is a preventive, preclinical program that was developed by the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service to form a working partnership with families of wounded warrior parents from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The OBF staff helps to identify the families' needs and collaborates with many organizations at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center to provide assistance. This article describes OBF, offers a case description, reviews current preventive programs for children exposed to trauma and disaster, and compares and contrasts OBF to these programs. Methods: A literature review was performed, searching Ovid MEDLINE(R) for keywords, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, child and adolescent, family, prevention, and disaster. Results: There are an increasing number of preventive programs for children and adolescents throughout the country, especially over the past 10 years. These programs build upon past prevention models. There are few services that offer primary prevention. Conclusions: OBF is a military treatment facility–focused preventive program that can serve as a program model for other military treatment facilities and civilian hospitals with the mandate to care for the family members and children of parents who are trauma victims and require long-term care.