The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defence will jointly fund a three-year five million dollar research program in to the mental wellbeing of contemporary service personnel and veterans.
Launched at Adelaide University on June 11, the Transition and Wellbeing Research Program will examine the impact of military service on the mental, physical and social health of serving and ex-serving personnel and their families who have deployed to contemporary conflicts. Defence will contribute $1.2 million to the program, with the Department of Veterans Affairs adding another $3.8 million.
The program is the largest and most comprehensive of its type ever conducted in Australia and will consist of three major studies, the first two to be conducted by the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide, and the third by the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Studies
The first study, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study, will target both serving and ex-serving personnel to determine their mental, physical and social health status. The second, the Impact of Combat Study, will follow-up the mental, physical and neurocognitive health of personnel who deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations between 2010 and 2012.
The third study, the Family and Wellbeing Study, will investigate the impact of military service on the health and wellbeing of the families of serving and ex-serving personnel.
Launching the program in Adelaide, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Senator Michael Ronaldson, said withdrawal from the major conflicts of Iraq and Afghanistan would not be complete without research in to the effect of these operations on our military personnel.
“With the increased operational deployment of the Australian Defence Force over more than a decade and the drawdown of Defence Force operations in Afghanistan more recently, we need to understand the physical, mental and social health needs of both serving and ex-serving personnel,” Senator Ronaldson said.
“I was the product of a post-Vietnam era. I saw amongst some of my friends who were several years older than me, the impact of their service. This nation let down a generation of young men, in particular. We cannot, as a nation, do that again to our contemporary veterans and their families. And the importance of today and the importance of this research, the partnership between my department, the Department of Defence, contemporary veterans and their families is absolutely pivotal.
“This Government is determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past. This means that we need to develop a strong understanding of the issues and challenges faced by veterans and defence communities, including their families, and to have a robust evidence base to inform our efforts to reduce stigma around mental illness and to keep improving our services.”
The Federal Government spends around $166 million per year on meeting the mental health needs of veterans and their families. The funding for treatment is demand driven and not capped.
Senator Ronaldson said it was important to continue studying veterans’ mental health over time, as symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome and other issues may not be immediately apparent, or may take even 10 or 15 years to manifest.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The University of Adelaide’s Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies was established in 2009 by Professor Alexander McFarlane, an international expert in the field of the impact of disasters and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Doctor McFarlane has previously been engaged by the UK Ministry of Defence in issues of Falkland Island, Gulf War and Northern Ireland veterans and wrote a report for the United Nations on the Compensation Commission for the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait.
The Centre’s director of research, Doctor Miranda Van Hooff has conducted a number of large-scale studies of traumatised and at-risk populations. These have included paediatric burns victims, childhood disaster survivors and children exposed to neurotoxins such as lead. Through the Centre she is also experienced in research in to issues affecting ADF veterans.
Most recently Dr. Van Hooff, together with Professor Alexander McFarlane, Dr. Stephanie Hodson and other colleagues at the Department of Defence, completed the 2010 ADF Mental Health Prevalence and Wellbeing Study Report, the first published study to examine the prevalence of mental health disorders in the entire Australian Defence Force. Dr. Van Hooff is also chief investigator on a large-scale study examining mental health disorders in contemporary veterans, including the neurobiological outcomes of combat exposure.
“Over the past five years the focus of our research has been the health and wellbeing of currently serving Australian Defence Force members,” Dr. Van Hooff said.
“To best understand the health needs of our contemporary veterans, the next step is to closely monitor their health and wellbeing in the years immediately following transition from full time ADF service. Currently there is little scientific literature on this critical period, with previous research in this area generally occurring long after the transition process is complete.”
The 2010 ADF Mental Health and Wellbeing Study showed that ADF members are at an increased risk of developing disorders such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, compared with the general Australian community. The prevalence of disorders in ex-serving ADF personnel, however, is currently unknown.
“Targeting the research on the transition phase will provide valuable insight in to the trajectory of symptoms during service and throughout transition,” Dr. Van Hooff said. “This type of research allows us to answer some important questions relating to how mental health issues change over time as well as the risk and protective factors which influence the health and wellbeing of our serving and ex-serving personnel.”
Although the research will be led by the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide, it will draw significantly on the experience and expertise of seven internationally respected collaborators across Australia. In addition, the university will involve researchers from the University of Melbourne, University of New South Wales and Monash University, as well as the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre and the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
Strategic research model
The Transition and Wellbeing Research Program will use a new strategic research model, introduced to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in 2013. The model is designed to be proactive and collaborative. It will support more focused evidence-based research in four domains.
- Longitudinal studies – looking at health outcomes in veteran populations over time;
- Predictive modelling – using data to forecast trends and patterns in the veteran community’
- Families – looking at health and wellbeing of families and veterans; and,
- Interventions – assess the effectiveness of health related programs and services designed.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs is exploring research collaboration opportunities with other agencies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Institute of Family Studies.
The first study, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study, will specifically:
- Determine the prevalence of mental health disorders amongst personnel who have transitioned from full-time service between 2010 and 2014;
- Examine the physical health status of serving and ex-serving personnel;
- Investigate pathways to care for serving and ex-serving personnel, with a priority on those with a diagnosed mental disorder;
- Examine the factors that contribute to the current wellbeing of serving and ex-serving personnel;
- Investigate how mental health issues change over time, particularly when an individual transitions from full time service;
- Investigate technology and its utility for health and mental health programs including implications for future health service delivery; and,
- Investigate the mental health and wellbeing of currently serving Reservists.
The second Impact of Combat Study will follow up the mental and physical health of personnel who deployed to the Middle East Area of Operations between 2010 and 2012, particularly those previously identified as being engaged in high risk roles and likely to be exposed to deployment related trauma or blast injury.
The third study, the Family and Wellbeing Study, will, for the first time, investigate the impact of military service on the health and wellbeing of the families of serving and ex-serving personnel.
“By understanding the impact of military service, deployment experiences and the associated health outcomes of serving and ex-serving personnel and their families, more effective policy and programmes can be developed and both the Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs will be able to better meet the needs of contemporary veterans,” Senator Ronaldson said.
Websites and applications
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs maintains several websites and applications to help veterans identify and manage issues and seek help, including the “On Track with The Right Mix” app that lets veterans track their drinking and spending to show the impact it is having on an individual’s wellbeing and fitness levels.
The At Ease website (http://at-ease.dva.gov.au) can assist veterans, ADF personnel and family members identify the symptoms of not coping, and offers assistance in seeking treatment and identifying ways to move forward. It also has clinical resources for health professionals treating members of the veteran and defence community. It has a complementary YouTube channel featuring videos explaining various issues associated with mental stress.
The PTSD Coach Australia app is designed specifically for serving and past ADF personnel, and is designed to help veterans learn about and manage symptoms that commonly occur after trauma. It includes reliable information on PTSD, tools for screening and tracking symptoms and a scheduler that allows individuals to manage self-care, health appointments and activities.
“We’re going to require the services of one very important group of people, and that’s the contemporary veterans both serving and ex, and their families, because they will make this study,” Senator Ronaldson said. “It is their experiences upon which we are basing our research. It is their experiences upon which we hope to have the policies and programs to meet the needs of this study. I believe that this nation owes these young men and women and their families the best opportunity for their mental health and their physical and social needs to be met.”