Date of Award
Summer 8-4-2025
Document Type
Scholarly Project
Degree Name
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)
First Advisor
Theresa Pape
Second Advisor
Michaela Gist
Abstract
Practice Problem: Military personnel appear to be at increased risk for mood and stress-related conditions, such as anxiety and depression. These are frequently associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet existing policies and practices may not fully capture this symptom complexity.
PICOT: For healthcare policymakers and providers (P), how does a policy review and recommendation for implementing the HAM-A screening tool for anxiety (I), compared to continued reliance on GAD-7 (C), impact the early identification and policy alignment for somatic and psychic anxiety management among active-duty military personnel (O)?
Evidence: Investigating psychological illnesses and their physiological manifestations in isolation fails to address the full spectrum of mental health issues experienced by service members (Russell et al., 2022). Current military mental health screening procedures predominantly utilize the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) tool.
Intervention: Although the GAD-7 is recognized for its speed and convenience, its limitations are increasingly evident. It is a self-administered tool with variable specificity and does not effectively distinguish between psychic and somatic anxiety or provide diagnostic guidance (Nunez et al., 2022).
Outcome: The intended outcome is the development of a validated, evidence-based policy that supports early and comprehensive identification of anxiety symptoms in military primary care clinics. Three policy briefs are available to relevant stakeholders (see Appendix F, G, & H).
Conclusion: As mental health awareness grows within military systems, there is a recognized need to refine early screening protocols to support force readiness and well-being. Early identification of mood and stress-related conditions, such as anxiety and depression can be found with a GAD-7 tool policy.
Recommended Citation
Judkins, A. (2025). Improving Anxiety Screening in Active-Duty Military: Policy Recommendation for Implementing HAM-A Alongside GAD-7. [Doctoral project, University of St Augustine for Health Sciences]. SOAR @ USA: Student Scholarly Projects Collection. https://doi.org/10.46409/sr.KGKM1322
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
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Comments
Scholarly project submitted to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Nursing Practice.