Transition from service to civvy street: the needs of armed forces veterans and their families in the UK

Abstract

Public health teams within UK local authorities are well placed to ensure veterans have more knowledge about and access to public services. Interventions to address stigma and veterans' reluctance to seek help were needed. To this end, interventions for local veterans, their loved ones and staff in public services, designed in co-creation with these groups, is discussed.

Outside the Military “Bubble”: Life After Service for UK Ex-armed Forces Personnel

“…Participants experienced feelings of inadequacy, a loss of feeling meaningful, brought on by an uncertainty with one's role (67,68). Being outside the military bubble symbolized vulnerability for those unprepared for transition, or an opportunity to identify adaption as successful, establish new narratives about roles, contributions and value to a civilian world (11). The provision of significant tools for transitioning were alternately experienced as nonexistent, difficult to access or poor for those participants who had no choice when leaving the Armed Forces involuntarily, or provisions were experienced as good transition for those participants who left voluntarily and had planned to leave.…”

“…Brilliant, it was the best thing I did at that time, urm, yeah it was great... because I realised I was sad. (Betty, p. 11) This was perhaps the timeliest kind of help for this participant, needed at a difficult time and provided outside the military "bubble." This participants' narrative pattern did not fit similar transition pathways into or out of service.…”

“…After the most recent conflicts in the Balkans and during the Middle East, 2005 marked a change in the need for specific research on the negative effects of service on members of the UK Armed Forces during and after service (5,9). Research of potential pre-service impact on veterans' well-being and well-being of the family appear less frequently (10,11).…”

Soldiering on: a survey on the lived experience of tinnitus in aged military veterans in the UK

“…4. E Fulton et al (2019). “Transition from service to civvy street: the needs of armed forces veterans and their families in the UK.” Perspectives in public health 139.1 (2019): 49–58.…”

A decade of Perspectives in Public Health

“…With only a decade clocked up, the journal is still on a learning curve, but the range of topics and themes reflects the broadening field of public health, such as health literacy, innovation, mental health, behaviour, the built environment, the arts, climate change and ageing, as well as covering the traditional focus on food, water, hygiene, infection and physical activity. This issue is no exception, including an insightful look at the transition from military to civilian life, 2 the Healthy Living Pharmacy initiative, 3 the need to improve child dental health services in the UK, 4 oral health effects of areca nut chewing, 5 media coverage of vaccines 6 and sexualised drug taking. 7…”