MISNS | Seeking Community Partners for Research Project

Exploring Moral Injury Among Service Members’ Partners

Project Aim

The aim of the current project is to explore the phenomenon of secondary moral injury among those who are close to MMI sufferers. Those included are spouses, ex-spouses, partners, or ex-partners of military service members with a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This exploratory study will lay the groundwork for future projects that are aimed at addressing gaps in the field of knowledge related to MMI.

Project Purpose

The purpose of qualitative study is to explore and describe how the partners of service members with PTSD experience, perceive, and describe moral injury. This includes how MMI effects their relationships and everyday lives. Additionally, this project will discover what supporting resources are effective for treating these injuries.

Community Based Participatory Approach

In this project, we are using a community based participatory approach, which means we are looking to the community of practice and affected family members to help ensure our design meets the needs of the people we are trying to help. The community of practice includes spouses, ex-spouses, partners, and ex-partners of service members; non-profit organizations and government agencies that work with veterans and families; chaplains; and community health providers. We are not just looking to draw data from this community, but to invest in it and provide support for the long term.

Community partners do not pay fees for their participation and do not receive compensation. Partners could help us with:

Fine tune study design,
Develop recruiting flyers and messages,
Make appropriate changes to the interview guide,
Be the first to get updates on the project’s progress, etc.

If you are interested in learning more about our partnerships, contact Dr. Daniel Roberts (910-701-0306 or droberts@chaplainconsultants.com) or Dr. Kirby Wycoff (Kirby.Wycoff@jefferson.edu).