Helping professionals are likely to interface with military-connected individuals and families throughout their career, given the prevalence of service members, veterans, military dependents, and military caregivers in the United States (ODASD [MC&FP], 2023; Ramchand et al., 2014; Schaeffer, 2023). Developing a working understanding of the military and associated expectations for the family system are essential to effectively serving military-connected clients (Meyer et al., 2015). Yet, many training programs do not offer specific training on military cultural competence and developing this type of competence while working can be challenging. In response to this existing need, the REACH for Military Cultural Competence mobile app-based intervention was developed to offer training and continuing education to helping professionals that included general information related to military culture as well as access to research summaries of military family-related research. Overall, the app was well-received, and the content (i.e. research summaries intended to bolster military cultural competence) was perceived as relevant and useful by diverse helping professionals with varying personal and professional backgrounds. The remainder of this discussion section explores study findings, implications for military cultural competence training and service provision to military-connected families, takeaways for app-based learning among professionals, and conversation about the range of helping professionals who may benefit from app-based military cultural competence training.

Informed by best practices in program evaluation and Kirkpatrick and Kirkpatrick’s (2016) four-level program evaluation model, this study focused on understanding the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary evidence of effectiveness for the REACH for Military Cultural Competence intervention. Regarding feasibility, the data suggest high levels of program completion. Specifically, 87.2% of participants engaged in the full 8-week, 16-module intervention. Regarding dosage, these program completers invested approximately an hour total on the app reviewing military and veteran family research (approximately 4 min per module). Given the amount of content for each summary (approximately ~ 750 words per summary), four minutes per research summary is in alignment with estimates of the average, adult reading speed (i.e., 238 words per minute for non-fiction; Brysbaert, 2019). The intervention was meant to provide program participants with brief, scientifically derived “sound bites” to introduce them to new concepts and research findings. Additionally, it was possible for program participants to download, email, and otherwise revisit the research summary outside the app, time which would not have been accounted for by the app. Importantly, results suggest that investing even a small amount of time in reading and understanding current research summaries can be meaningful.

It is also important to note that participants from a range of helping professions, including but not limited to social work, therapy/counseling, and family life education, working in diverse settings (e.g., community agency/nonprofit, higher education, self-employed, medical office, government) volunteered for and completed this military cultural competence training. Almost half of program participants had a personal connection to the military and three-quarters had experience working with military-connected individuals and families. This demographic data and accompanying results suggest that military cultural competence training is both desired and useful for a range of helping professionals, including those with a foundational understanding of military culture and those looking to develop new competencies (Butler et al., 2024).

With regard to program acceptability, participants were generally satisfied with the intervention platform (the app) and content (research summaries). Most participants felt the app was user-friendly, visually appealing, and reported they would continue using it. Technical challenges and uncertainty on how to navigate mobile- and web-based trainings have been reported as key barriers to engaging in digitally delivered continuing education content; thus, ease-of-use is foundational to participant engagement (Curran et al., 2019). Further, as guided by best practices in e-learning (Curran et al., 2019; Khanna & Kendall, 2015), this military cultural competence app sought to deliver high-quality, accessible information and strike a balance between standardized delivery (e.g., same platform, similar foundational content across users, similar dosage schedule across 8-weeks) and personalized experiences (e.g., delivery of content specific to helping professional’s needs and interest, personalized timing of modules). In response to these efforts, participants in this study reported that the amount of time they invested to use the app was reasonable, and the knowledge they gained through this investment was worthwhile. The research content was generally perceived as sound science and understandable, and the research implications were typically considered relevant for their work.

Regarding preliminary evidence for the potential effectiveness of the training, posttest assessments were examined, namely perceived changes in self-reported learning (i.e., knowledge, skills, and confidence) and commitment to alter future behavior. Overall, participants generally agreed that their military family research-related knowledge (e.g., information on military culture and service provision), skills (e.g., ability to access research and discuss military cultural concepts), and confidence (e.g., feeling equipped to serve military-connected families and use research in the service provision process) improved after using the app.

Respondents also reported that they were committed to changing their behavior after engaging with the app. As an example, participants noted that they were likely to continue reading publicly available research summaries and sharing the information with colleagues as well as clients to spread awareness, disperse knowledge, and normalize experiences. This finding denotes that the research summaries and implications could not only impact helping professionals’ military cultural competence, but also the military cultural competence of their colleagues. Thus, instructors and supervisors of helping professionals might consider establishing networks for information sharing to facilitate dispersal of new competencies.

Overall, similarly high levels of perceived learning and intended behavior change were reported by most participants—even those from different backgrounds and varying levels of exposure to military life. For example, no differences in perceived learning were reported by participants based on having a personal connection to military life or experience working with military families. This finding supports other recent scholarship that suggests that even helping professionals with a military background of some type can benefit from military cultural competency training (Butler et al., 2024). Furthermore, participants at various points in their educational journey tended to perceive similar changes in learning, with students and non-students alike showing comparably high levels of self-reported learning and commitment to behavior change. These findings suggest that ongoing exposure to research as a mechanism for continuing education may be similarly beneficial to helping professionals regardless of their connection to the military or student status.

The research summaries were intentionally crafted to present key findings from academic articles in a straightforward and clear manner so that they could be used effectively by a wide variety of audiences; this focus on useability may account for the lack of differences among participants, but it is important to note that a few differences in perceived learning and intended behavior change did emerge. Those with a personal connection to military life reported a slightly greater commitment to continuing to read research summaries and sharing research with others than those without a personal connection to the military, although both groups were “likely” to continue these behaviors. Younger participants tended to report higher levels of confidence in their ability to seek out research, stay informed, and work with military families after completing the intervention while older participants were more likely to continue reading and sharing the research summaries. It was meaningful that the app-based intervention held professional value—albeit in different ways as mentioned above—to participants of different ages as opposed to the intervention being systematically less accessible and less useful for one group or the other.

This initial training evidence provides meaningful insight regarding participants’ reactions, felt acceptability, perceived learning, and intended application of the REACH for Military Cultural Competence app-based training and content. Findings provide an important step forward in program evaluation and may reflect meaningful indicators of program impact, although, more systematic evaluation is needed. Notably, a recent investigation of online continuing education content for professionals investigated indicators of “training transfer,” defined as the transfer of concepts and skills gained in training to their application in the workplace (Schettino et al., 2024). In other words, what components of a program or context promote the likelihood that training content transfers into the workplace? Aligning with the theory of planned behavior and the Kirkpatrick model, findings suggested that perceived training credibility, favorable attitudes toward the content, and perceived content usefulness were all salient indicators of transfer intention (planning to use the training content in the workplace). Future evaluative work is needed to identify objective knowledge gain and long-term behavior change from the type of intervention used in the current study. However, these results indicate fulfillment of the first two levels of the Kirkpatrick model which are antecedents of training transfer.

Additionally, the findings from this study provide evidence for the utility of using a mobile app intervention about a nuanced phenomenon (e.g., military-connected individuals and families) as a means of promoting continuing education for diverse helping professionals. Post-COVID-19 technological adaptations have changed many of the ways we use technology in the workplace (e.g., a greater use of Zoom calls). In this same vein, continuing education for helping professionals may benefit from technological adaptations or innovations, such as mobile apps, by addressing existing barriers to continuing education such as fewer remote and cost-effective options (Adedoyin & Soykan, 2023; Brownson et al., 2018) in a way that does not require significant investments of time. Further, findings related to app user-friendliness will help to inform mobile app improvements, as the level of support provided by researchers in response to technical issues may not be sustainable or feasible.

The results of this study also have implications for accessing and using the range of free and accessible professional development resources provided by the DoD’s Office of Military Community and Family Policy through partnerships with land grant universities (e.g., OneOp, the Clearinghouse for Military Family Readiness, Military REACH). Helping professionals operating in military settings (e.g., Veterans Affairs facilities) and community-based settings alike might consider relying on these application-based research summaries and continuing education opportunities to help them serve military individuals and families well as they provide access to cutting-edge research and guides for interpreting research. For instance, Military REACH provides a publicly available online library with a search feature to access research summaries about specific topics that military-connected clients may be experiencing. Helping professionals and researchers, alike, can identify relevant research summaries. Within these summaries, the practical implications (along with links to military-sponsored resources and program offerings) likely would provide, according to the findings in this study, digestible action items to consider while engaging in with their client to bolster military culturally competent care.

Study findings should be considered alongside study limitations. First, the use of cross-sectional data means this study was unable to test change over time. That is, only participants’ self-perceptions of improvements at posttest were assessed. Relatedly, we did not use objective measures of participants’ change in knowledge, skills, and attitudes related to military families. Subjective measures may introduce the potential for social desirability bias. More comprehensive evaluation work with a rigorous longitudinal design and the incorporation of both subjective and objective measures is needed to assess changes in learning and behavior as a function of training participation. Specifically, comparisons between the intervention and waitlist control groups’ changes in learning and behavior from pre- to post-test will more strongly support the influence of training participation. Additionally, the quantitative nature of these data does not allow for much nuance or feedback regarding participant experiences. An evaluation component that includes qualitative data from participants may be useful for identifying specific aspects of the app itself or the research summaries that participants found most or least useful. Findings from a subgroup of participants’ semi-structured interviews will be explored in future papers.

Next, the sample was highly educated, which may introduce a self-selection bias such that helping professionals who opted to participate in our study were already more invested in continuing education or research-informed practices than those who did not choose to participate. However, many jobs in this line of work (e.g., family therapist) require a graduate degree, so it is likely our sample is generally representative of the average level of education among helping professionals. Relatedly, the participants in our study may have started out with a higher level of research self-efficacy; therefore, the results may not apply to the accessibility of the app or the summaries for entry-level helping professionals or job fields in which higher education is not required. The convenience nature of the sample may have introduced differences beyond investment in research; for example, given the recruitment via social media, participants may have been more comfortable interacting with technology.

Finally, greater exploration is needed to understand for whom this continuing education training would be most beneficial. Training engagement (e.g., overall dosage, time spent on specific studies, the need for prompts from the research team), personal characteristics (e.g., age, time since graduation, military connection, professionalism, self-efficacy), and workplace factors (e.g., perceived behavioral control, organizational learning culture) may all play a role in training impact (Schettino et al., 2024). Advances in evaluation research and clinical training would also be furthered with a lens on intersectionality and the consideration of how these characteristics overlap and intersect (e.g., older students, employees who want training but have very little autonomy in decision making at work).