Congratulations to Dr. Leslie Hammer for being awarded a Department of Defense grant addressing Behavioral Health and Resilience Training for Military Leaders. Dr. Hammer has expertise in Occupational Health Psychology and specializes in the health effects of supportive supervision at work, and on the health consequences of work-family conflict. She is also the Associate Director of the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center, a Center of Excellence funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) to conduct research in Total Worker Health. The project also includes a sub-award to Dr. Cynthia Mohr at Portland State University, and co-investigators Drs. Todd Bodner and Jennifer Dimoff.
The goal of this study is to adapt existing evidence-based programs like Hammer’s Veteran Supportive Supervisor Training and Dimoff’s Mental Health Awareness Training [MHAT]) for active duty military leaders. Hammer and Dimoff will develop a 90-minute, in-person training to teach Army platoon leaders new ways to protect and enhance the mental health, resilience, and readiness of their soldiers. The research team will then follow up with several micro-learning exercises delivered in non-traditional ways, including through podcasts and videos.
Hammer and her team will deliver their Readiness Supportive Leadership Training or (RESuLT) to several hundred platoon leaders, while another group of untrained platoon leaders will serve as the control group. The team will gather data from the leaders and their soldiers before and after the training.
Hammer believes the training will have a positive impact on service members’ readiness and resilience, and that it will improve psychological health, team cohesion and retention, and that it may also reduce loneliness. As part of the grant, Hammer will adapt the training for other military branches and civilian occupations that face highly stressful situations.
Grant details:
TITLE: Behavioral Health and Resilience Training for Military Leaders
PI: Dr. Leslie Hammer
Period of Performance: 15 September 2019 – 14 September 2022
Learn more about the Oregon Healthy Workforce Center and the Hammer Lab.
Featured photo caption: Leslie Hammer lab (L to R): Jason Malach-Fuller, Marjaana Sianoja, Phoenix Rain Bird, Leslie Hammer, Shalene Allen, Luke Mahoney, MacKenna Perry, Jacquelyn Brady (June 2018)
