Veterans experience decline in health and well-being over the three-year period after discharge

More than 200,000 individuals leave the United States military service each year, and understanding their transition to civilian life is an important public health issue. This study is the first to examine how the health and overall well-being of the US veteran population changes in the first few years after military service has ended.

In a large national study of veterans who retired in 2016, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the VA Boston Healthcare System found that the proportion of US veterans who reported good health and general well-being reported decreasing rather than increasing over the following 3 years.

Contrary to the expectation that veterans would struggle the most during the first year after leaving service, veterans experienced a decline in their health and well-being during the three-year period of the study.

Dawne S. Vogt, PhD, Corresponding Study Author and Research Scientist, Women’s Health Sciences Division, National Center for PTSD at VA Boston Healthcare System and Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine

Researchers used a population-based sample of 3,733 newly separated male and female veterans who completed one survey within three months of separation, followed by five additional surveys at six-month intervals.

According to the researchers, while the decrease in the proportion of male and female veterans reporting good health and well-being was not large, some were notable as they reflect factors that could most likely be expected to show the greatest improvement , when the veterans get used to civilian life. These include the increasing proportion of veterans reporting mental health problems, which was greater among women than male veterans, and the decreasing proportion of veterans reporting higher levels of community involvement, which decreased most significantly among male veterans. In addition, the results showed that female veterans showed declines in more aspects of health and well-being than male veterans, suggesting that female veterans face unique challenges during their transition from military service.

Vogt believes this study has a number of implications for prevention and early intervention. Most importantly, the results support the need to step up interventions to prevent declining health and general well-being in veterans after they leave military service. “Our findings also support the value of tailoring prevention and intervention programs to the unique needs of female veterans. Given that previous research suggests that existing veteran support services do not always adequately meet the needs of women veterans, this may necessitate modification of existing programs or the development of new programs rather than increasing women’s engagement in existing programs.” adds Vogt.

Source:

Boston University School of Medicine

Magazine reference:

Vogt, D., et al. (2022) Changes in the health and general well-being of US veterans in the first three years after leaving military service: general trends and group differences. Social Sciences & Medicine. doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114702.

source https://www.bisayanews.com/2022/01/25/veterans-experience-decline-in-health-and-well-being-over-the-three-year-period-after-discharge/