This research clarifies that, where needs exist amongst the veteran population, these are often multifaceted across both health and social care domains.
It is evident that some veterans do not smoothly transition into civilian life and therefore, may struggle to cope with the demands of day-to-day functioning.
From this research we recognised three overall themes around unmet needs: Accessibility, Being understood and Mistrust.
Accessibility
Whether this is related to benefits, transport, services, appointments or information available, we recognise that veterans may need additional support or adaptations to enable access.
Being understood
There is clear pattern of veterans not feeling that they are able to relate to, or that their unique experiences can be recognised by, civilians or civilian-led services.
Mistrust
Veterans have often experienced trauma and may have been let down by the armed forces or by services. A concerted effort must be made to support them to rebuild this trust in local services.
The results of this study were discussed with Veteran stakeholders in October 2022 and an initial proposal for a NEL Veterans alliance was substantially supported.
The Alliance would promote the following:
- An active, monitored advocacy role to support veterans with the goal to reduce stigma and any barriers to accessing services and support.
- Promote awareness and understanding of what local services exist through establishing links with key persons, and thus improve signposting and monitoring of agreed outcomes. The network of key persons would also ensure service support is easily accessible and with a minimum of difficulty.
Access to services and feedback on a veteran-specific platform could be devised, which can improve veterans’ direct
accessibility of the appropriate service.
Removing the various processes that currently exist across organisations and providing a bespoke process would be more efficient. Stakeholders could also audit referral and signposting processes to ensure optimal delivery and impact. This could be based on the Veterans Gateway.
The employment of individual advocates for veterans, who provide a dedicated role to signposting, liaising with stakeholders to ensure appropriate referral pathways are followed may be a significant measure to improve service access and support for the unmet needs defined by this project.
The advocate role could suit an “Expert by Experience” veteran, who will receive or have knowledge of local services and an expansive understanding of the challenged faced by veterans accessing these.
Furthermore, the idea of a peer (veteran specific) support network or charity has been suggested by participant veterans throughout this research, which could be developed as part of this role. There are a number of veterans which expressed a desire to volunteer in a supporting role that is veteran specific.
A copy of the final report will be forwarded to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), detailing findings and recommendations for a more comprehensive and tailored transition into civilian life and outlining the preventative approach to accessing services and identified need areas.
The NEL Alliance is to be tasked with devising a local Veterans Hub where stakeholder services meet (regularity to be determined by demand) with any ex-military personnel, to access support and build social networks. The hub can be run by a combination of professionals and Experts by Experience.
Veterans felt the development of a ‘New Veterans Hub’ would be appropriate to address gaps in provision and areas of need. Such a hub could be piloted to test its potential to meet this purpose. A similar scheme is in operation as proposed by veterans in this research.
The lack of support for family members of veterans places a significant responsibility on them. Accessing information on the support needs for this group of relatives and carers will be an important future objective.
A peer support group for relatives and carers may facilitate the understanding of this issue, as research suggests there is often a perceived responsibility placed on the close network of veterans and this can have an impact on the carer’s wellbeing.
The findings have evidenced that veterans can experience anger towards civilians and that may be an impact of military service. At present, no anger management service exists in North East Lincolnshire for this frequently cited need.
Whilst it is known that services such as Navigo have provided support to veterans for anger management, this is not a veteran specific anger management group, which may be more appropriate considering the frequency of this need.
As part of training and continued professional development, it may be useful for organizations to incorporate ‘promoting military awareness and
understanding’ as a part of employee understanding. This will help to address the frequently cited barrier for veterans accessing civilian support services and work towards building trust and understanding in helping relationships.
In accordance with the proposal by the Royal British Legion (2022), it is recommended that the local authority include loneliness and social isolation in their Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA), or equivalent, for veterans.
This would allow for services to consider how additional initiatives could be targeted at members of the Armed Forces Community. It is also proposed that psychological distress and welfare are considered for inclusion in the JSNA.
In the first instance, Navigo Health and Social Care CIC will employ a dedicated engagement officer to lead on progressing the action plan from this report in conjunction with the local armed forces covenant.
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