Beyond the Uniform: Navigating the Impact of Service Culture on Well-being
| Tuesday, March 4, 2025 |
| 3:15 PM - 3:45 PM |
| Prince Room |
Overview
Dr Henry Bowen, Senior Research Officer and Dr Karen May, Program Director, Military and Emergency Services
Presenter
Dr Henry Bowen
Senior Research Officer
Military and Emergency Services Health Australia
Beyond the Uniform: Navigating the Impact of Service Culture on Well-being
Presentation Overview
Military and first responder culture shapes members' behaviour and identity through values, norms, rituals and language. These behaviours are enculturated during intensive basic training and re-enforced through training reform programs. Embracing these norms provides social support, status, and well-being, fostering purpose and belonging. These environments create strong bonds and pseudo-familial relationships, leading to identity fusion where group welfare is prioritized. This culture forms a core service identity, which can have positive and negative impacts on mental health, relationships, and future careers. Understanding this identity's influence is crucial for service personnel's well-being, with or without diagnosable mental health issues. Cultural competency in working with these populations improves care engagement and health outcomes, potentially reducing future care needs. There is a recognized lack of cultural competency among civilian providers, employers, and government staff in addressing military and first responder needs.
Culturally informed services, designed and delivered with lived experience peers, can address this need for awareness not only within civilian populations, but also for the service personnel themselves. Military and Emergency Services Health Australia, part of the Hospital Research Foundation Group, offers programs that increase awareness of how service culture and identity impact the lives of service personnel and their families.
Presentation Key Learnings:
1. Recognise the impact of military and first responder culture on identity and wellbeing.
2. Emphasise the need for cross-cultural awareness in addressing military and first responder needs.
3. Highlight the role of culturally informed services facilitated by lived experience peers in enhancing engagement and support for service personnel.
Culturally informed services, designed and delivered with lived experience peers, can address this need for awareness not only within civilian populations, but also for the service personnel themselves. Military and Emergency Services Health Australia, part of the Hospital Research Foundation Group, offers programs that increase awareness of how service culture and identity impact the lives of service personnel and their families.
Presentation Key Learnings:
1. Recognise the impact of military and first responder culture on identity and wellbeing.
2. Emphasise the need for cross-cultural awareness in addressing military and first responder needs.
3. Highlight the role of culturally informed services facilitated by lived experience peers in enhancing engagement and support for service personnel.
Biography
Dr. Henry Bowen (they/them) is the Senior Research Officer at Military and Emergency Services Health Australia, a charity under the Hospital Research Foundation Group. Dr. Bowen focuses in the areas of social psychology and how military and first responder culture and identity impact the sustained wellbeing of Military and Emergency Services personnel and their families. This unpins their work in the areas of suicide impact on service communities, diversity in service (e.g. LGBTQIA+, culturally and linguistically diverse groups), and adjunct treatments for service communities which have translational outcomes such as creative arts interventions, assistance animals, and mixed reality technologies.
Dr Karen May
Program Director
Military and Emergency Services Health Australia
Beyond the Uniform: Navigating the Impact of Service Culture on Well-being
Presentation Overview
Military and first responder culture shapes members' behaviour and identity through values, norms, rituals and language. These behaviours are enculturated during intensive basic training and re-enforced through training reform programs. Embracing these norms provides social support, status, and well-being, fostering purpose and belonging. These environments create strong bonds and pseudo-familial relationships, leading to identity fusion where group welfare is prioritized. This culture forms a core service identity, which can have positive and negative impacts on mental health, relationships, and future careers. Understanding this identity's influence is crucial for service personnel's well-being, with or without diagnosable mental health issues. Cultural competency in working with these populations improves care engagement and health outcomes, potentially reducing future care needs. There is a recognized lack of cultural competency among civilian providers, employers, and government staff in addressing military and first responder needs.
Culturally informed services, designed and delivered with lived experience peers, can address this need for awareness not only within civilian populations, but also for the service personnel themselves. Military and Emergency Services Health Australia, part of the Hospital Research Foundation Group, offers programs that increase awareness of how service culture and identity impact the lives of service personnel and their families.
Presentation Key Learnings
1. Recognise the impact of military and first responder culture on identity and wellbeing.
2. Emphasise the need for cross-cultural awareness in addressing military and first responder needs.
3. Highlight the role of culturally informed services facilitated by lived experience peers in enhancing engagement and support for service personnel.
Culturally informed services, designed and delivered with lived experience peers, can address this need for awareness not only within civilian populations, but also for the service personnel themselves. Military and Emergency Services Health Australia, part of the Hospital Research Foundation Group, offers programs that increase awareness of how service culture and identity impact the lives of service personnel and their families.
Presentation Key Learnings
1. Recognise the impact of military and first responder culture on identity and wellbeing.
2. Emphasise the need for cross-cultural awareness in addressing military and first responder needs.
3. Highlight the role of culturally informed services facilitated by lived experience peers in enhancing engagement and support for service personnel.
Biography
Dr Karen May is the Director of Military and Emergency Services Health Australia (MESHA). She has worked with diverse populations across her career, with the past 10 years focused on current and former veterans, emergency service personnel and their family members. Karen’s background and experience includes social science, community development, public health, trauma psychotherapy, organizational and service delivery management, including lived experience framework development and clinical governance, advocacy for policy and practice models and research. Karen’s PhD research area focused on examining the wellbeing of children of military and emergency first responder parents with PTSD, and developing a wellbeing program for children and parents. Karen also brings her lived experience, in advocating for and supporting service personnel and families.
Conference Chair
Tara Lal AFSM
Firefighter | Lived Experience Researcher | Specialist in Trauma, Suicide and Stress-related Growth
Moderator
Shinade Hartman
Virtual Manager
AST Management
Lise Saunders
Conference Coordinator / Virtual Manager
AST Management
Justine White
Event Manager
AST Management
