A new survey highlights the difficulties post-9/11 veterans and their families are facing when compared to retirees and their families.
The Military Family Advisory Network and Wounded Warrior Project teamed up on the survey report, which was released Tuesday.
Shelley Kimball, senior director of research and program evaluation for MFAN said a common theme surfaced: Veterans and their spouses reported more negative experiences than retiree respondents regardless of the topic, but specifically among social determinants of health like economic stability, loneliness, community, food security, and healthcare.
“Our goal here in looking into this data was really to find that roadmap of opportunities for support for our post 9/11 veterans and their families,” she said.
For purposes of the study, Kimball said veterans are those who left military service before receiving retirement benefits and retirees are those who served 20 years or more and receiving military-retired pay, and those who have been medically retired.
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When rating satisfaction with the health care they receive, their ability to access health care appointments, and the quality of health care providers, the survey found that post-9/11 military retiree respondents were the most satisfied and post-9/11 veteran respondents were the least satisfied across all three satisfaction areas.
While the majority of all post-9/11 respondents said they were satisfied with all three mental health care areas—care received, access to appointments, and quality of providers — 24.1% said access to appointments or providers was their top obstacle for mental health care in an open-ended question.
The majority (74.7%) of post-9/11 respondents said they had not accessed mental health crisis resources in the past five years; only 22.1% said they had. Spouses of veterans had a higher percentage (30.8%) saying they had accessed mental health crisis resources in the past five years.
Veteran respondents were statistically more likely to say they had suicidal thoughts in the past two years than the other respondent groups. Only 9.7% of military retiree respondents and 6.5% of military retiree spouse respondents reported having suicidal thoughts in the past two years, while veteran and veteran spouse respond
The majority (74.7%) of post-9/11 respondents said they had not accessed mental health crisis resources in the past five years; only 22.1% said they had.
Kimball said the report showed how important community support is to veterans and their families, like Jennifer Mackinday.
Mackinday is a caregiver to her younger brother who was injured as the result of an IED in Mosul, Iraq in January of 2005.
“In the early years, we had to learn to navigate the Army and military system and then when we transitioned to the civilian world, we felt like we were on an alien planet,” she said. “s a caregiver, especially as a non-spouse caregiver, I didn’t have the touchpoints in my community and I didn’t know really where to turn to get my questions answered.”
Mackinday said she spent a number of years doing everything by herself.
“I didn’t know how to ask for help and I didn’t know how to accept it when it was being offered,” she said.
Those feelings of isolation and frustration led Mackinday to what she described as a “dark place” that included thoughts of suicide. That’s when she got connected to WWP’s caregiver support program.
“Since that time in 2012, my brother has been involved in the Wounded Warrior Project’s Independence Program which not only provides him the support he needs to live independently, but it provided me with the time and energy and resources to get my life back on track,” she said.
Mackinday said she has come to realize that a supported caregiver is a much better caregiver.
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Retired Air Force Technical Sgt. Tim McDonough’s also shared how community support has helped him. McDonough’s military career spanned more than 22 years in both the Navy and Air Force. During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he helped transport the remains of those who had been killed back to the United States.
“The first couple of times you do it, you’re proud,” he said. “You feel that you are blessed to be bringing home our nation’s fallen heroes. Over time, though, you get numb. You get numb to what’s going on around you, numb to your friends and family, quite numb to the fact that there are HR’s (human remains) down in the bottom of your airplane.”
Along with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, McDonough lost some sight in his left eye and some hearing in both ears. He has also had 14 service-related surgeries.
He was told that as a result of his injuries, he would no longer be able to do anything that involved upper body strength.
“This exacerbated the PTSD and made me angry at the world,” he said.
McDonough said the only time he felt comfortable in his own skin was when he was out in the woods, where he would disappear sometimes for days at a time, worrying his family and friends.
“I was at a point where I didn’t care if I lived or died anymore," he said. “I just wanted the useless feeling to stop.”
In 2011, McDonough went on a WWP health and wellness outing with a close friend of his who is a disabled veteran.
“I felt a switch in the back of my head. I knew what I had to do,” he said. “I made a list of everything that was important to me that doctor told me I would never do again. For the next two years, with Wounded Warrior Project in my corner, I knot only conquered, I surpassed every one of them.”
The survey also found that nearly one-third (31%) of those without a military pension reported they do not have an emergency savings fund at all. When asked about their top barriers to saving, approximately 26.4% of post-9/11 respondents said that they simply did not have enough money and that it is difficult to save or they are unable to save.
Veterans and their families were also found to have higher feelings of isolation and loneliness than retirees, according to the survey. The WWP’s annual warrior survey found that 58% of warriors reported feeling lonely.
“In conversations I’ve had with them, they’ve shared how they’ve struggled to find that social support and connection,” said Amanda Peterson, WWP senior research specialist.
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets..com.
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