Lest We Forget

After exploring and learning more about health determinants in Canada, I thought it would be nice to spend some time researching that of CAF Veterans and share it with the group. After all, Veterans access care and services in their respective province and some of you might deal with one or many of them one day. I hope this blog makes your life easier in understanding this population.

Before I focused on the health determinants of Veterans, I first looked up health determinants in active duty military member. Unfortunately, nothing came up during my searches. I have attended a few Forums held by the Canadian Institute for Military and Veterans Health Research (CIMVHR) and a lot of the research regarding determinants of health is done on the veteran population and less so on the active duty member, at least that is the case in Canada.

As some of you may know, Regular force members and Class C reservists have access to the full Spectrum of Care (DND, n.d.). No matter our rank, our sex, our age, we get access to dental, medical, mental health care and any further care that would be required while on duty. Some of the determinants of health described in the Canadian Facts document written by Mikonnen and Raphael (2010) apply but some are less relevant as we equally have access to the whole spectrum of care after we enroll. For veterans, it is a different story; all of the social determinants of health would be pertinent and some unique determinants have been proposed by Thompson et al (2014).

In 2014, Thompson et al released ‘’ Health and Well-Being of Canadian Armed Forces Veterans: Findings from the 2013 Life After Service Survey’’. In this study, the authors further divided the study group into three: Class A/B Reserve Force Veterans, Class C Reserve Force Veterans and Regular Force Veterans. From the study, Reg Force and Class Reservists once again proved to present with similar challenges. Of these three groups, the Reg Force Veterans were the least like the general Canadian population (Thompson et al, 2014).

Health determinants in Canada

Thompson published another paper in 2013 with further details on health determinants proper to the veteran population. He revealed a few more determinant of health for veterans: female sex, middle age groups, relationship loss, low income, unemployment, low social support, weak sense of community belonging, low mastery, junior and senior non-commissioned rank, longer career, and medical release (Thompson, Hopman, Sweet al, 2013). There was also a determinant directly related to deployments (equal or more than 30 days).

The paper from Thompson, Hopman, Sweet et al was a definite eye-opener for me. Through my last few years working as a physiotherapist in the military, I have encountered many cases of veterans struggling to cope during their transition to a very different health care system. The veterans who struggle the most have indeed dealt with many deployments, relationship loss and have just lost their family (the military, their brother in arms). My advice to you colleagues is to continue to do the best you can in supporting them within your own professional boundaries and to not forget that many of them may not understand the canadian health system as it is today. Lest we forget.

References

DND, Health, support and casualty services (n.d.) Retrieved from : https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/benefits-military/health-support.html

Mikkonen, J., & Raphael, D. (2010). Social Determinants of Health: The Canadian Facts.

Toronto: York University School of Health Policy and Management.

Thompson, J., Hopman, W., Sweet, J. et al. Can J Public Health (2013) 104: e15.

Thompson JM, Van Til L, Poirier A, Sweet J, McKinnon K, Sudom K, Dursun S, Pedlar D. Health and Well-Being of Canadian Armed Forces Veterans: Findings from the 2013 Life After Service Survey. Charlottetown PE: Research Directorate, Veterans Affairs Canada. Research Directorate Technical Report. 03 July 2014.