When They Return From Afghanistan/Iraq: Acceptance of Loss Due to War Injury

Returning service members who are disabled due to war injury has risen substantially over the last decade due to increased use of body armor, extraordinary medical care and rapid return to the United Sates for medical care. This has resulted in a huge cohort of returning service members who need protracted care. Acceptance of disabling conditions requires that health care professionals have an understanding of the factors that impact injury acceptance. This study aimed to explicate the demographic and war-related factors that impact acceptance of war related disability. The Acceptance of disability scale was used to assess factors related to acceptance of a war-related injury. Members of the Warrior Transition Brigade in two Department of Defense hospitals were surveyed (n = 157). Finding showed that the majority of participants accepted their disabling condition at the ‘medium’ level with nuances regarding demographic factors. There was no impact for age, deployment length and deployment frequencies on the findings. Additional findings highlight specific subscale areas impacting disability acceptance. Health care professionals engaged in working with the combat related war injured need to be sensitive to the factors that impact adjustment to their disability. Findings point in specific directions to enable this level of care.