A new study to understand the effect of coronavirus on former
service personnel is to be launched today, veterans minister
has announced.
The work is sponsored by the Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA)
and will be undertaken by the world leading King’s Centre for
Military Health Research (KCMHR), King’s College London.
The study will look at whether COVID-19 has had any specific
impact on the veteran community in the UK. This in turn will
allow policy makers in government to understand potential issues
affecting veterans and respond accordingly based on expert advice
and evidence.
The work will collect data on loneliness, social support, alcohol
consumption, mental health, gambling and general well-being. It
will also explore the resilience of veterans and whether their
experiences in the Armed Forces have actually better prepared
them for the unprecedented circumstances of the COVID-19
pandemic. Data will be collected through an online survey
starting on Monday 15th June.
The OVA has been working closely with the charity sector
throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This has included the creation
of a £6 million COVID-19 impact fund, to support charities to
continue their essential work during this challenging period.
This new study is a further important step to ensuring that
government continues to drive forward its ambition to ensure the
UK is the best place to be a veteran anywhere in the world.
Minister for Defence People and Veterans said:
We have seen a great contribution from veterans during the
pandemic; from the amazing Captain Sir Tom Moore, to all those
who have volunteered in their communities.
It is important that we understand the effect of this terrible
pandemic on the veteran community too, so we can provide
effective support, tailored to their needs.
This new study is an important part of that.
Co-Director of the KCMHR, King’s College London, Professor Sir
Simon Wessely said:
This study has been measuring the health and well-being of a
large sample of our Armed Forces, starting in 2003. We have
followed their progress, some for nearly 20 years, through
service in conflicts such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and then as
many returned to civilian life.
Now it is time to see how they are coping with a different
challenge, that of COVID-19.
The first results of this new work focussed on the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic are expected to be published in autumn/winter
2020.
KCMHR will draw on their world-leading research into veterans’
health and for this study researchers will be approaching those
veterans living in the UK who took part in the last KCMHR health
and wellbeing study (2014-2016).
This forms part of a unique cohort of 20,000 former service
personnel that was originally created in 2003 to monitor the
mental health and social consequences of deployment and has
become a reliable and trusted source of information on mental
health and wellbeing of both serving personnel and veterans.
The Office for Veterans’ Affairs (OVA), which was created last
year, is ensuring that the whole of government is delivering
better outcomes for veterans, particularly in areas such as
mental health, employment and housing. It is working in
partnership with government departments, the Devolved
Administrations and charities to coordinate activity across the
United Kingdom.
The Role of the OVA includes:
- Pulling together all functions of government, and better
coordinating charity sector provision, in order to ensure this
nation’s life-long duty to those who have served
- Ensuring that every single veteran and their family knows
where to turn to access support when required
- Helping to generate a ‘single view of the veteran’ by making
better use of data to understand veterans’ needs and where gaps
in provision exist
- Improving the perception of veterans
