Canadian Armed Forces Medical Military-to-Civilian Transition: A Qualitative Investigation of Barriers and Facilitators and Their Perceived Impact on Well-Being

Abstract

Epidemiological monitoring over the past decade has identified a pattern of increasing rates of suicide, financial difficulty, and transition distress in Canadian Armed Forces veterans. Veterans who involuntarily release due to medical reasons experience more challenges than other groups of veterans. While military-to-civilian transition research has increased in recent years, little has been done to examine the experiences of medically releasing personnel. Therefore, there is a dearth of information investigating how barriers and facilitators experienced during the medical release transition process may be contributing to veteran well-being. This study explored the experiences of medically releasing soldiers and medically released veterans to identify perceived barriers and facilitators that occurred during their military-to-civilian transition. These barriers and facilitators were further situated within the seven domains of Veterans Affairs Canada’s well-being framework. This study is an extension of a broader veteran research project investigating medical transition experiences of individuals, as well as their current perceptions of personal and relationship health. A pragmatic approach using inductive thematic analysis was used to analyze 40 semi-structured interviews conducted with soldiers and veterans who had experience with the medical military-to-civilian transition process. This investigation yielded four themes: Systemic Complexity, Intersectional Position Considerations for Benefit Effectiveness, Health-Related Limitations, and Sociocultural Disruptions. Implications for future research, policy, benefits, and resources are discussed.