Improvement of the methodology for assessing the needs of military personnel and their family members in social support

Abstract

Background. The relevance of the study is due to the urgent need to improve the diagnostic tools within the system of social and psychological support for military personnel and their families under the conditions of the War for Ukraine's Independence, since a significant proportion of their psychological distress is a secondary reaction to unresolved social, domestic and legal problems. The aim of the article is to develop and substantiate an improved methodology for integrated assessment of the psychological state and needs for social support by supplementing standardized psychological questionnaires with a specialized block of marker questions.
Methods. A complex of theoretical, empirical and mathematical methods was used to write the article and substantiate the proposed methodology. A theoretical analysis and systematization of scientific sources were conducted to substantiate the concept of secondary distress, modeling was used to develop an improved methodology that integrates psychological questionnaires with a diagnostic block of marker questions, and mathematical models (time costs, workload optimization, error reduction) were used to substantiate the organizational and economic feasibility of its implementation.
Results. The main results are the addition of a diagnostic form with a special block of questions related to social and everyday issues. The effectiveness of the methodology was proven by mathematical modeling: its implementation optimizes client referrals, significantly reduces total time costs, significantly increases the efficiency of narrow-profile psychologists due to early filtering of social requests (up to 70%), minimizes the risk of diagnostic errors (type I errors) and provides direct economic feasibility, transforming the support system from reactive to proactive.
Conclusions.The implementation of the developed integrated assessment methodology is a scientifically substantiated and strategically expedient step under the resource constraints conditions of wartime. The combination of psychological screening with the identification of social needs makes it possible to eliminate the fragmentation of service provision, increase the overall efficiency of the social protection system and is critically necessary for preserving the mental health of the nation and maintaining the operational capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.