The Veterans Metrics Initiative: Linking Program Components to Post-Military Well-Being

FAIN: AH-255573-17

Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Inc. (Bethesda, MD 20817-1883)
Jacqueline Vandermeersch (Project Director: November 2016 to December 2019)

The Veterans Metrics Initiative (TVMI) Study is a five-year research initiative of the Center for Public-Private Partnerships of the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine (HJF).  Multidisciplinary researchers will collaborate to develop evidence-based methods to identify and measure factors that improve transitioning veterans' long-term health and well-being outcomes.  The study began in April 2015 with three goals: to document veteran well-being in four key domains (mental and physical health, education and career vocation, finances, and social relationships); to describe programs used by veterans as they reintegrate into civilian life and to distill their components; and to examine any links between common program components and veteran well-being throughout the transition process.  From 2016 until 2019, the team will conduct the longitudinal survey portion of the study, which aims to retain and follow between 7,500 and 9,600 veterans from all military branches for a total of six assessments over the three-year period.  The study would create a data set and an instrument for identifying and measuring key program components tied to positive outcomes for veteran well-being.  The Chairman's Grant would support the survey research conducted during the third year of the TVMI Study. 

Associated Products

The Veterans Metrics Initiative study of US veterans’ experiences during their transition from military service (Article)
Title: The Veterans Metrics Initiative study of US veterans’ experiences during their transition from military service
Author: Dawne Vogt
Author: Daniel F Perkins
Author: Laurel A Copeland
Author: Erin P Finley
Author: Christopher S Jamieson
Author: Bradford Booth
Author: Suzanne Lederer
Author: Cynthia L Gilman
Abstract: Efforts to promote the health and well-being of military veterans have been criticised for being inadequately informed of veterans’ most pressing needs as they separate from military service, as well as the programmes that are most likely to meet these needs. The current article summarises limitations of the current literature and introduces The Veterans Metrics Initiative (TVMI) study, a longitudinal assessment of US veterans’ well-being and programme use in the first three?years after they separate from military service. Veterans were assessed within 3?months of military separation and will complete five additional assessments at 6-month intervals during the subsequent period. The TVMI study cohort consists of a national sample of 9566 newly separated US veterans that were recruited in the fall of 2016. The TVMI sample includes representation from all branches of service, men and women, and officers and enlisted personnel. Although representative of the larger population on many characteristics, differential response rates were observed for some subgroups, necessitating the development of non-response bias weights. Comparisons between unweighed and weighted results suggest that the weighting procedure adequately adjusts for observed differences. Analyses are under way to examine veterans’ well-being and programme use in the period following separation after military service, as well as factors associated with poor outcomes. We have also begun to decompose programmes into their core components to facilitate examination of how these components relate to well-being. Once our third data collection is complete, we will examine factors related to different patterns of readjustment over time.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/8/6/e020734
Primary URL Description: Copy of article on BMJ Open access website.
Secondary URL: http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/8/6/e020734.full.pdf
Secondary URL Description: PDF copy of article.
Access Model: Open Access Article
Format: Journal
Periodical Title: BMJ Open
Publisher: BMJ

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