A MILITARY APPLICATION OF A MEDICAL SELF-CARE PROGRAM

The cost of health care is a growing concern to the military, Many mil itary clinic appointments and emergency department visits are unnecess ary; they are for minor, self-limiting illnesses and injuries that cou ld be treated at home. Military health care can no longer afford the l uxury of treating minor illnesses and injuries in the hospital setting . This paper examines one method for military beneficiaries to obtain health care services appropriately. A selected group of military famil y members received a medical self-care book and an education session, which resulted in more appropriate decision-making about when to use t he health care system. This was a 6-month, experimental study using co ntrol and experimental groups, with surveys before and after the study period. The self-care book was used 628 times to help make more infor med decisions about when to seek medical care. The mean number of clin ic and emergency room visits (p = 0.02) decreased for those using the medical self-care book.