Experiences of help-seeking among UK veterans
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pathways into mental health care for UK veterans receiving treatment from NHS and charitable services: a qualitative study
IRAS ID
185133
Contact name
Neil Greenberg
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
IoPPN, King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 3 months, 25 days
Research summary
Currently treatment for mental health problems in veterans is provided by a wide range of organisations including the NHS, the private sector and a number of charities. Despite this we suspect that a number of veterans with mental health problems are not getting the help that they require.
Existing research has looked into stigma and the associated barriers related to help-seeking in members of the armed forces and veterans suffering from mental health problems. However, to the best of our knowledge, no research has explored these factors from the perspectives of those veterans who do receive help from mental health services. Having a better understanding of what factors help individuals to access services, where the barriers exist, and how these are overcome would help us to understand how the UK can better support veterans with psychological difficulties to seek help.
This piece of research would aim to understand and compare the lived experiences of veterans accessing mental health services provided by one of two healthcare organisations: a. the NHS and b. the charitable sector. By conducting telephone interviews with participants receiving help from either of these services we may be able to better understand the different care pathways involved in getting help and how this interacts with patient choice.
The current study would aim to investigate the following three research questions:
1. What factors are involved in helping veterans to access mental health services?
2. Where barriers exist to accessing mental health services how are they overcome?
3. Are there differences in the barriers to accessing NHS services versus charitable services?REC name
London - Camberwell St Giles Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1866
Date of REC Opinion
7 Dec 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion