Researchers from King’s College London and Queen’s University Belfast will play an integral role in a UK-wide study aiming to understand the factors affecting the mental health and wellbeing of Armed Forces veteran families.
This landmark research, funded by Forces in Mind Trust alongside the National Lottery Community Fund, will provide an opportunity for an often-overlooked group to share their experiences and to help impact change for current and future UK Armed Forces veteran families.
Launched in November, the survey component of the study, seeks spouses or intimate partners of veterans, adult children of veterans, and veterans themselves to complete questions on related to their experiences, thoughts, and feelings as a member of a veteran family.
It will also explore relationships between family members, investigate the contribution of the local community to family mental health and wellbeing and identify what services are used by veteran families, as well as what barriers to care might exist.
The project, conducted by King’s College London and Queen’s University Belfast is in collaboration with Cardiff University and Veterans NHS Wales, Glasgow Caledonian University, Anglia Ruskin University, and Combat Stress, will bring new insight and support by exploring the drivers of mental health and overall wellbeing in veteran families.
Professor Nicola Fear, Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the King’s Centre for Military Health Research, said:
!This is an important opportunity for families of Armed Forces veterans in the UK to have their voice heard. Our recent review of existing research focussing on the needs of veteran’s family members returned very few studies within the UK. The results from this survey, alongside the wider UK Veterans Family Study, will help us understand the mental health and wellbeing needs of veteran families across each of the 4 nations.!
Professor Chérie Armour, Director of Research and Professor of Psychological Trauma and Mental Health in the School of Psychology at Queen’s University Belfast, said:
“Our research will be pivotal in facilitating the design and implementation of family specific supports for those who need them for many years to come. It is therefore important that we can hear from as wide a group of veteran family members living in the UK as possible. By identifying the key future needs of veteran families going forward the research has the potential to inform policy, programme and initiative creation, and future research for years to come, with veteran families across the UK benefiting from these changes.”
If you are a partner or child of an Armed Forces veteran, you can find additional information and take part in the survey here.
To contact the research team directly, please email ukvetfamilystudy@qub.ac.uk
