A Whole System Approach to promoting health and human performance in military settings as vital prerequisites for force readiness and operational capability

Joanne L. Fallowfield ^1* Jace Drain ² Julia Carins ³ Helen Kilding ⁴ Emma Williams ² Ben Fisher ⁵ Debra Hayhurst ⁶ Alysia Gourlay ² Simon Olivotto ² Garrett Bullock ⁷

• ¹ Institute of Naval Medicine, Navy Command,, Alverstoke, United Kingdom
• ² Joint Health Command, Department of Defence, Canberra, Australia
• ³ Social Marketing @ Griffith, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Nathan, Australia
• ⁴ Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand, Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
• ⁵ Defence Primary Healthcare, Headquarters Defence Medical Services, DMS Whittington Barracks, Lichfield, United Kingdom
• ⁶ Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre Stanford Hall, Loughborough, United Kingdom
• ⁷ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

Internationally, militaries have common workforce capacity and capability challenges; more is being asked of fewer personnel.Military roles and associated occupation-specific training contribute to high injury prevalence and ill-health burden.A fit Force is better prepared and operationally effective for achieving mission success; ill-health reduces readiness and resilience.The military workplace—including leadership prioritisation and resource allocation—has generally not holistically supported health and performance interventions.Efforts have focused on individuals and their capabilities to address their ill-health and/or poor performance.A ‘Whole System Approach’ (WSA) policy stance is required for effective, enduring and impactful health and performance support in military workplaces.WSA ensures interventions are holistically developed, implemented at scale across geographically dispersed organisations and outcomes measured.