Women Veterans Needed for Research on Women’s Health and Well-being

Above image: Tabitha Beynen, Lived Expertise Lead, Veterans at the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families bring her lived experience to the Athena Project. She is pictured here aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) in 2008, administering deworming medication in her role as a Medical Technician.

By: Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families

Women Veterans can face unique challenges after transitioning out of active military life and may have specific well-being needs. Alongside navigating their transition, women Veterans may also face challenges finding employment, managing mental and physical health injuries, and accessing benefits or specialized services. To address these challenges and ensure that women Veterans receive the support they need, targeted research and community-engaged approaches are essential.

The Athena Project at the Atlas Institute for Veterans and Families is an initiative led by Atlas’s Applied Research team that conducts responsive research and builds connections to support women Veterans’ well-being. This approach is informed by research methods that emphasize collaboration with communities and that actively involve Veterans in the research process. These efforts are supported by a dedicated working group of women Veterans who contribute their insights and expertise to all aspects of the research process.

The Athena Project working group has, as part of this collaboration, supported the development and refinement of research questions, the identification and adaptation of study measures, and provided input on recruitment strategies and materials.

Collaborating with Women Veterans

Tabitha Beynen, Lived Experience Lead at Atlas and Veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, says that for women Veterans, who are only now being meaningfully included in research, collaborating on research can be especially productive. “When the people designing the research are part of the community that will be participating in it, studies are more likely to accurately reflect the needs of those it is designed to benefit,” she said.

Dr. Sara Rodrigues, Director of Applied Research at Atlas, said that, “to develop research projects that can answer the questions that matter and generate much-needed evidence, we want to not just consult with women Veterans, but also collaborate with them to shape the research.”

With the working group’s guidance, Atlas is leading two research studies about the needs and experiences of women Veterans, now available online:

“The health needs study is intended to expand our understanding of health care, experiences from service, and mental health from women’s time in service and as Veterans,” Dr. Rodrigues added, saying that the study design is also intended to help understand associations between time in service and mental and physical health as a Veteran. She said the hope is to determine risk and protective factors associated with a broad range of well-being outcomes and help to identify interventions and approaches to support well-being.

Atlas has also partnered with the Canadian Legacy Project, a not-for-profit that offers programs to Veterans, to conduct a study on the experiences of women Veterans during their transition from the military. The goal of this study is to identify some of the factors that may impact that experience.

Accessing Services

“One of the key objectives of the transition study is to understand whether women Veterans are aware of and accessing services, and if so, which ones they are most likely to use,” said Dr. Kate Hill MacEachern, a Senior Research Associate at the Atlas Institute and one of the study’s Principal Investigators. Designed to capture a broad range of experiences and insights directly from women Veterans, Dr. Hill MacEachern added that “in this study, we are also trying to understand how women understand transition and what, from their perspectives, makes for a ‘successful’ transition.”

Each study involves completing an online survey about health care access, transition to life after service, and well-being as a Veteran. The results of these studies will help inform programs, services and policy recommendations that impact women Veterans.

If you’re a woman Veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) or Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), you may be eligible to participate. Add your voice to this research and be a part of shaping the way forward. Women Veterans who complete a survey may also be eligible for compensation.

Strengthening Support Systems

Your contribution to the evidence on women Veterans’ unique mental and physical health needs can help strengthen support systems that are responsive to women’s needs.

Interested in learning more about the research studies? Find out if you’re eligible to participate in the recruiting research studies at the Atlas Institute by visiting atlasveterans.ca/athena-project and clicking on the “Get involved” section.