A Virginia Wounded Warrior and School of Social Work Partnership: The “MISSION: Healthy Relationships” Project and Student Engagement

Postdeployment family reintegration and relationship breakdown among combat veterans has received considerable attention from the Department of Defense and the media. Social interventions have been developed as a family strengthening strategy. In this article, we present a university–Wounded Warrior partnership where a relationship enhancement program was delivered in a weekend retreat format. The program was provided by a faculty member and a master’s of social work (MSW) alumnus who was an employee of the Wounded Warrior program. Doctoral and MSW students who were research assistants, interns, and volunteers were involved in (1) program management, including recruitment and registration of participants; (2) co-facilitation of intervention activities; and (3) evaluation research, specifically interviewing participants and transcription of interviews.