Open access
Research Article
5 October 2021

How well is Canada serving the women who have served us?

Publication: Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health
Volume 8, Number 1

LAY SUMMARY

The Veterans Affairs Canada Well-being Framework describes seven areas of well-being that contribute to a military member’s successful return to the civilian world. This perspective argues that, although there is a plethora of programs, services, and resources available to support military-to-civilian transition, they are currently inadequate to address the unique needs and experiences of servicewomen and women Veterans. In addition, of those programs, services, and resources that are aimed at supporting specifically women, there is little information indicating they consider women’s unique needs and experiences. Future research is required to encourage critical review of existing programs, resources, and services, or to create those based on evidence-based research.

INTRODUCTION

Military-to-civilian transition (MCT) is a reality for those who dedicated their lives in service of Canada.1 Acknowledged as a process that begins before military release, MCT goes on until a Veteran has adjusted to civilian life.2-5 For most Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members, MCT is a positive and successful experience, but research indicates that between 32% and 56% of individuals experience significant difficulties with transition that impacts all areas of their lives.1,6-10 A range of external factors, including social, policy, physical, and cultural environments, as well as individual factors such as health, age, experience, and gender, play a role in the MCT process for Canadian Veterans.1,2,11-13
To better understand the wide range of Veterans’ experiences during MCT, the concepts of gender and intersectionality are particularly useful. Intersectionality refers to the complex and cumulative way in which multiple forms of discrimination (based on social categorizations such as ethnicity, race, gender, class, and sexual orientation) create overlapping and interdependent systems of disadvantage for certain individuals or groups. With increased attention on the differing experiences between men and women, studies on the impact of gender and Veterans’ MCT are emerging, but further inquiry about Canadian experiences is still needed.14-17 Research from the United States indicates women Veterans experience higher rates of unemployment, homelessness, and military sexual trauma than their male counterparts, all of which negatively impact their overall health and well-being.14 While servicewomen’s roles have attracted attention, studies investigating MCT have largely focused on men. Evidence-based, rather than anecdotical, understanding of the diverse experiences of CAF members and Veterans during their MCT is vital to ensure that programs, services, and resources meet their specific needs.
In 2016, the Veterans Affairs Canada Research Directorate created a well-being framework to position policy, programming, and research to support Canada’s Veterans.18 This evidence-based and interdisciplinary Veterans Affairs Canada Well-Being Frame-work (VACWF) articulates seven domains of well-being required for a successful transition, including: 1) employment or other meaningful activity, 2) finances, 3) health, 4) life skills and preparedness, 5) social integration, 6) housing and physical environment, and 7) cultural and social environment.18 Considering the emerging literature identifying the differences in the MCT experience because of gender, as well as the importance of a biopsychosocial approach to MCT as articulated in the VACWF, are there programs, services, and resources currently available to support servicewomen and women Veterans? The purpose of this article is to determine how well Canadian society is supporting the MCT of servicewomen and Veterans relative to the VACWF.

PROGRAMS, SERVICES, AND RESOURCES THAT SUPPORT THE VACWF

Employment or other meaningful activity

This domain of the VACWF sees Veterans as engaged in activities they find beneficial and meaningful.18 An online search reveals the bulk of programs, services, and resources, in both English and French, from all types of organizations (i.e., government, non-profit, and private industry) are represented in this domain with a particular emphasis on paid employment. Government-based supports through Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)19 and the Military Family Resource Centres20 aim to assist women and men as they travel through their transition journey. Within private industry, companies such as VIA Rail Canada,21 GardaWorld,22 and PriceWaterhouseCoopers Canada23 made clear efforts to recruit Veterans, because of their specific knowledge and transferable experiences.

Finances

The strategic outcome for Veterans under the finances domain is described as being “financially secure.”24 The Canadian government defines financial well-being as the ability to comfortably meet all of a person’s existing financial commitments and needs “while also having the financial resilience to continue doing so in the future.”25 As of March 2020, 20.3% of CAF Veterans were in receipt of a Disability Pension/Award.26 The difficulties Veterans face accessing and navigating the institutions that disseminate Veteran benefits remain a barrier to financial security.27 Several identified websites addressed finance-related topics aimed at service members and Veterans as a whole. Private industries, such as the Bank of Montreal28 and SISIP Financial through Desjardins General Insurance Services,29 have dedicated programs to support military families.

Health

Health outcomes for Veterans refers to “functioning well physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually.”18 A range of organizations created and provide physical and mental health programs, services, and resources, including those that are supported through VAC. Sport was identified as way to engage service members and Veterans through organizations such as Soldier On30 and the Invictus Games.31 However, most of the programs, services, and resources support operational stress injuries (e.g., anxiety, depression, traumatic brain injuries, posttraumatic stress disorder) and operationally-acquired sexual trauma (OAST) — also often called military sexual trauma (MST) or sexual misconduct — by the CAF. Nevertheless, limited programs, services and resources related to OAST exist today. While there is no one organization solely dedicated to women survivors of OAST, 83% of the membership of It’s Just 700, an organization run by “a group of Canadian volunteers also living with a MST and dedicated to provide confidential positive peer support and information to current and past service members of CAF” who survived a work-related sexual trauma, is made up of women.32

Life skills and preparedness

The VACWF domain of life skills and preparedness is described as the ability to adapt, manage, and cope with civilian life.24 Unfortunately, out of the 867 English and French websites the authors visited and analyzed, none of the programs, services, or resources offered addressed this specific area for servicewomen and women Veterans.

Social integration

Social integration is viewed as individuals being in mutually supportive relationships and engaged in community.24 Localized organizations, including the Women Warriors’ Healing Garden33 and Veterans Transition Network (VTN)’s support groups34 fall into this category. More accessible, and less formal, social supports — mostly available to all Veterans — can be found through online social media groups such as It’s Just 700’s closed Facebook page, Soldier On’s Twitter account, local chapters of Veteran UN/NATO Canada Facebook pages, and Wounded Warriors Canada’s Newsletter.

Housing and physical environment

Housing and physical environment is described in the VACWF as having safe, adequate, and affordable housing.18 Most programs, services, and resources aimed at supporting Veterans struggling with obtaining housing view the group homogenously. No housing programs explicitly addressing the challenges faced by women during MCT currently exist. At this time, VETS Canada’s annual event, In Her Boots,35 appears to be striving to raise awareness about homelessness among women Veterans.

Cultural and social environment

The last domain of the VACWF, cultural and social environment, is defined as “being understood and valued by Canadians.”24 The mission of several Canadian, nationwide, non-profit organizations align with this broad definition. For example, Wounded Warriors Canada states that its mission is “to honor and support Canada’s ill and injured Canadian Armed Forces members, Veterans, public safety personnel, and their families,”36 while True Patriot Love aims to inspire “every Canadian to contribute to the resilience and well-being of our military and Veteran families,”37 and the Servicewomen’s Salute Portal Project plans to create online directories “cataloguing servicewomen’s historic contribution, and artistic expression and digital media representation.”38

DISCUSSION

Acknowledged throughout the small existing research literature are the unique experiences of servicewomen and women Veterans, warranting the need for programs, services, and resources created to support them during their MCT. This article begins the discussion on what is available to Canada’s women Veterans in supporting all seven areas of their well-being, as articulated by the VACWF, during MCT by sharing the some of the findings from an environmental scan that sought to identify programs, services support at this stage in a military member’s career.
There appears to be a variety of programs, services, and resources aimed at supporting pre-release and post-release military members across Canada, provided across a wide range of sectors including government, academic, private industry, and non-profit. Many of these have been developed and disseminated as a result of increased attention to well-identified needs and gaps in services supported by research and evidence, such as peer support groups for operational stress injuries and other mental health difficulties. There are emerging exemplar programs and services that recognize the unique health and socioeconomic challenges of servicewomen and women Veterans including VTN,34 the Captain Nichola Goddard Scholarship Fund,39 and GardaWorld.22
The increasing availability of information on the Internet has enabled servicewomen and women Veterans to learn about, and access, a breadth of programs, services, and resources, both Canadian and international. However, access goes beyond the physical availability of information and needs to include information that is provided in a language understandable by service users.40 While there are no available statistics on the Veteran population, a 2015 report indicated that 26.7% of CAF Regular Force members spoke French as their first official language.41 This statistic is higher than the national value of 20.6% as measured in the 2016 census.42 The availability of truly bilingual programs, services, and resources remains limited in Canada. Although all government-based programs, services, and resources (e.g., VAC, the Department of National Defence) are provided in English and French, many of the innovative non-profit programs and services do not offer French language content beyond their website’s section headings.
Furthermore, existing programs, services, and resources for servicewomen and women Veterans generally fall within two of the seven domains of the VACWF: employment or other meaningful activity and health.18 This trend reflects emerging research indicating that servicewomen and women Veterans face specific economic and health challenges during their transition. As previously mentioned, few programs, services, and resources focus on social integration, and are generally only available through informal social media groups, such as Facebook and Twitter (e.g., Women Warrior’s Healing Garden and Soldier On) as well as formal and relaxed peer support groups like those of the VTN, VETS Canada, and Wounded Warriors Canada.
Lastly, very few organizations are making efforts to address financial well-being through financial support programs (e.g., the Captain Nichola Goddard Fund) and housing (e.g., VETS’s annual In Her Boots event) despite literature indicating women Veterans experience a higher rate of homelessness and unemployment than their male counterparts.14
Organizations should pay attention to existing exemplar local and unilingual programs, services, and resources. Grassroots programs providing care and community support to underrepresented groups who often feel marginalized, or even unsafe, in traditional programs designed for Veterans, are needed. In that respect, the approach of Women Warriors’ Healing Garden33 may serve as a model for organizations concerned about the social integration of women Veterans. Private companies wishing to attract the knowledge and talents of women Veterans may want to critically review their human resources policies, hiring practices, and marketing strategies through an intersectional approach to eliminate underlying discriminatory barriers that may hinder employment and complicate MCT, taking examples from efforts being made by GardaWorld.22
Additionally, universities and their funding partners should continue to support evidence-based research about the gendered dimension of MCT. Academic research groups leading the way include: the Alexa McDonough Institute for Women, Gender and Social Justice,43 the Centre for Social Innovation and Community Engagement in Military Affairs,44 and the Centre for International and Defence Policy’s Gender Lab at Queen’s University.45
Moreover, international exemplars exist, particularly among countries that share similarities with the CAF. For example, in the United States, the website Operation We Are Here acts as a portal to organizations supporting the military community and provides a brief summary of national and state-based programs, services, and resources.46 Also out of the United States are programs addressing under-served domains of wellness in Canada. One example is Grace After Fire, which aims to “provide support for and help women veterans of the United States military who are returning from active duty so that they can re-engage as mothers, wives, daughters in civilian life” and appears to speak to the domains of life skills and preparedness and social integration.47
Finally, given advancing knowledge and technology, there are opportunities to increase access to programs, services, and resources for servicewomen and women Veterans living in under-served geographical areas and address the specific access challenges faced by these individuals.
In closing, there are two important gaps that have been identified in the current offering of supports. First, current programs, services, and resources aimed at supporting all military members during transition to civilian life are at risk of inadequately addressing the unique needs and experiences of servicewomen and women Veterans. Furthermore, existing programs, services, and resources aimed at supporting women in specific areas, such as employment, education, and housing, are at risk of inadequately addressing the unique needs and experiences of servicewomen and women Veterans. Further studies examining their specific issues, as well as met and unmet needs, are critically required, as they have the potential to slow down these trends. Future findings may, at last, make it possible for providers to critically review their programs, resources, and services, or elaborate new ones, based on evidence-based research, and eventually close these worrying gaps.

References

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REGISTRY AND REGISTRATION NO. OF THE STUDY/TRIAL

N/A

ANIMAL STUDIES

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PEER REVIEW

This manuscript has been peer reviewed.

Information & Authors

Information

Published In

Go to Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health
Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health
Volume 8Number 1February 2022
Pages: 131 - 136

History

Received: 6 April 2021
Revision received: 4 June 2021
Accepted: 7 June 2021
Published online: 5 October 2021
Published in print: February 2022

Key Words:

  1. Canada
  2. military-to-civilian transition
  3. programs
  4. services
  5. servicewomen
  6. women Veterans
  7. Veterans Affairs Canada

Mots-clés : 

  1. Anciens Combattants Canada
  2. Canada
  3. femmes militaires
  4. programmes
  5. services
  6. transition de la vie militaire à la vie civile
  7. vétéranes

Authors

Affiliations

Linna Tam-Seto
Biography: Linna Tam-Seto, PhD, holds a PhD in Rehabilitation Science and is a registered Occupational Therapist. Her research interests include understanding the health and well-being of Canada’s military members, Veterans, public safety personnel, and their families, with a focus on life transitions and changes.
Centre for International and Defence Policy, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Sonia Dussault
Biography: Sonia Dussault, PhD(c), is a member of the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research, an Associate Researcher with Research Chair Événements traumatiques, santé mentale et résilience de l’Université du Québec à Chicoutimi, and affiliated with the Queen’s University-Servicewomen’s Salute Online Portal Project. She is currently Director of the Specialized Program in International Law and Politics offered at Bader International Study Centre at Queen’s University and is completing her PhD in Military History at Queen’s University.
Department of History, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

Notes

Correspondence should be addressed to Linna Tam-Seto at the Centre for International and Defence Policy, Robert Sutherland Hall, 4th floor, Queen’s University,138 Union Street, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7l 2P1. Telephone: 613-533-2381. Email: [email protected]

Contributors

Conceptualization: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Methodology: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Validation: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Investigation: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Resources: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Data Curation: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Writing – Original Draft: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Writing – Review & Editing: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Visualization: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault
Project Administration: L Tam-Seto and S Dussault

Competing Interests

The authors have nothing to disclose.

Funding

Funding was received from Veterans Affairs Canada’s Veteran and Family Well-Being Fund (Queen’s Servicewomen’s Salute online portal project).

Ethics Approval

N/A

Informed Consent

N/A

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