Just to recap...

Our study into the health and well-being of serving and ex-serving UK Armed Forces personnel has been running since 2003. We first contacted some of you between 2004 and 2006. We were interested in seeing how people who deployed on Op TELIC were doing compared to those who didn’t deploy. Around 10,000 of you took part. Then we contacted you again between 2007 and 2009 to see if anything had changed. With the start of Op HERRICK we wanted to look at experiences and possible health effects of that deployment too. So we also contacted a new group who had deployed there, plus a group who had joined the Armed Forces since the study began. Once again, about 10,000 of you took part. n

Service leavers

We know that most people do well when they leave the military, but a few do have problems. Some of you who took part in our study have left the Services; we are looking at the vast amounts of information you have given us to see how you are doing. This is work in progress and we hope to tell you more next time. As time goes by more and more of you will leave the Services and its really important that we keep in touch to see how you are doing. n

Reservists

Last time we told you that, overall, we still find no major differences in the psychological wellbeing of regular Armed Forces personnel whether or not

HEALTH AND WELL-BEING SURVEY OF UK ARMED FORCES PERSONNEL

KCMHR NEWSLETTER

KING’S CENTRE FOR MILITARY HEALTH RESEARCH - NEWSLETTER - AUTUMN/WINTER 2012

Hello again. Three or four years ago you took part in our study of the

health and well being of the UK Armed Forces. You get so many questionnaires that you probably don’t remember, unless you were lucky enough to win our lottery.

We are grateful that you did take part. You might not realise it, but your help does matter. The research our department has done with your input has helped MoD decide not to routinely extend tour length, for instance. It has also helped MoD to argue in favour of increases to the X factor payments and develop important psychological health programmes such as Trauma Risk Management (TRiM). In this newsletter we aim to let you know how we are using the information you have given us and to tell you about other research we are doing. n

&&

KING 'S CENTRE FOR MIL ITARY HEALTH RESEARCH

KC

MH

R

�You are already part of the largest ever study of the UK Armed

Forces. Your contribution has already made a difference - Thank you!

We now need to hear from you again.

�Participation in this study is voluntary.However, your response is vital if

we are to understand the pluses and minuses of military life.

�We are an independent academic research team based at King’s

College London. The MoD supports the study.

�The information you provide is 100% confidential.

�NOT ALL SECTIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU

MORE THAN 20 PEOPLE WHO COMPLETE

THIS WILL WIN UP TO £500

FO

LL

OW

-U

P

� This study is important and will make a difference.

� This is the first large study of the UK Armed Forces.

� Participation in this study is voluntary.However, your response is vital if

we are to understand the pluses and minuses of military life.

� We are an independent academic research team based at King’s

College London. The MoD supports the study.

� The information you provide is 100% confidential.

� NOT ALL SECTIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU

MORE THAN 20 PEOPLE WHO COMPLETE

THIS WILL WIN UP TO £500

&&

K I N G ' S C E N T R E F O R M I L I T A R Y H E A L T H R E S E A R C H

K C M H R RE

PL

EN

ISH

ME

NT

they have deployed on Ops HERRICK or TELIC. However, we did find that deployed reservists were more likely to report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than reservists who hadn’t deployed. We have been looking at why this might be the case.

Our results suggest that the main reason was not about what happened in theatre but what happened afterwards. Reservists found it more difficult to get back to normal life after deployment than regulars. They spent less time with people who had shared the same experiences, and some reported problems with their employers. They also reported less support from the military itself and from civilians.

What can be done? As a result of our previous work, MoD set up a dedicated mental health service for reservists (the Reserves Mental Health Programme, RMHP). We have shown that this service has been helpful for those who have had problems. There has been the move towards the ‘One Army’ concept where reservists and regulars are treated the same. There has also been some effort in improving support for reservists. Schemes such as SaBRE (Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers) that provide support and information to reservists and

their employers may help. All of these will become more important with future plans to increase the number of reservists.

We must point out, though, that most of you are doing well, whether you are regulars or reserves, or have deployed or not. This is good news. However, we know that some of you are having problems, and it is really important that you get the help you need. n

Getting help when you need it

About five years ago, over 800 of you took part in a telephone interview study, which asked about different aspects of your health and well-being. We also wanted to find out where you went for help if you became unwell and if it was useful, or, why you did not receive the help that you needed. So what did we find?

First of all, we found that most of you were doing well. This is reassuring and not what you might think given some of the stories which appear in the press. Of course, some of you were having difficulties. About 1 in 4 of you were having some psychological problems. But, like the findings from other studies we have carried out, Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was rare. Symptoms of anxiety

and depression and drinking problems were more likely, even though they are still uncommon overall.

It is really important that those having problems get the help that they need to get better. The first step in getting help is recognising you have a problem in the first place. We found that only half of people having some psychological problems recognised that they had a problem. So this is one reason why some people might not be getting the help they need.

Reassuringly, most people (about 80%) who recognised that they had a problem had tried to get some sort of help. But rather than getting help from professionals such as a GP, most people preferred to talk to friends and family. This meant that most people with problems were not receiving the right kind of medical support and treatment they needed to get better.

When we asked about attitudes towards seeking help for psychological problems, we found that practical concerns

were important. This included arranging appointments, getting time off work, knowing where to get help and worries about confidentiality. However, the most common issue was embarrassment and ‘stigma’ - that is concern about what others might think and being seen as weak. Evidence shows that this is not just

a problem for military personnel. Stigma can be a problem for anyone. Our research shows that we must work towards reducing the stigma and encourage people to come forward when they have problems. n

Health on deployment

We have carried out three studies of psychological health and support during deployment. Nearly 4000 personnel have taken part in our Operational Mental Health Needs Evaluation (OMHNE) studies in theatre. We have used the results of these studies to advise operational commanders at all levels about how they can best support military personnel during deployment.

Our team members who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan to carry out these studies wish to pass on their thanks to those of you who took part in them. n

Coming home from deployment

Most of you will have gone through ‘decompression’ on the way home from theatre – a day or two in Cyprus unwinding with those who have shared the same experiences as you. Our team carried out a number of studies with you to see what you think of decompression and if it is a good thing. We found that although many of you did not want to do it beforehand, once you had, most of you found it was helpful. That was particularly true for those who had had the toughest tours.

Some of you may also have taken part in another study carried out by our team in Cyprus, which looked at ‘Battlemind’. Battlemind is a different way of delivering stress briefs after deployment and has been used by the US military. We were interested to see if this was better at helping people get back to their normal life after deployment than the usual brief you receive during decompression. Most reported finding the briefs useful. There was a high level of satisfaction with both traditional stress briefs and Battlemind; you didn’t prefer one over the other. In general, we didn’t find any differences in the health and well-being between those who had received Battlemind or the usual brief. We did, though, find that those of you who had Battlemind were less likely

to binge drink. Binge drinking can lead to both health and social problems, so this is a useful outcome and MoD have adapted their briefings as a result. n

Other studies underway...

Children and families

Some of you may have recently taken part in another study we are carrying out

here at KCMHR. The ‘KIDS study’ aims to find out about the impact of military service on children and families. It has involved telephone interviews and online questionnaires not just with you, but also your partners and children. This study started in summer 2010. So far, about 600 families have taken part. The study will soon be drawing to a close, so we will be able to start looking at the information you have given us. We will update you again in our next newsletter. n

Post-deployment mental health screening

Mental health screening involves asking people to complete a questionnaire to find out whether or not they have a problem. Some countries screen

personnel before deployment. We have already shown in another study that, actually, that doesn’t work – it’s just too inaccurate to be useful, and doesn’t stop people getting ill. As a result of that research you are spared MoD introducing psychological screening before deployment.

But what about when you get back? Most countries now routinely screen personnel for psychological problems soon after they return from deployment. It takes

up time and costs money. That wouldn’t matter if we knew that it works, but actually no one knows that it does.

So, many of you will already be taking part in the first ever proper test of screening after deployment. So far about 6,000 of you have used one of our laptop screening tests as part of this, and we hope that another 3,000 will do in the coming months. Thanks for this. At the end of the day we will know once and for all if this really does make a difference or not. If it doesn’t, then what’s the point in wasting your time? If it does, then all well and good. We will update you again next time. n

Public perceptions of the UK Armed Forces

Recent events, such as increased donations to military charities, and the large numbers of people who attended the repatriations at Wootton Bassett and Armed Forces Day,

suggest that the UK public is becoming more willing to express support for the Armed Forces. But at the same time, other evidence points to a decrease in support for past or current military involvement in operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. As there is very little research in this area, it is difficult to measure and assess these changes in public opinion.

Earlier this year we began a study to look at public perceptions of the UK Armed Forces. The project is looking at some of the information you have already given us, as well as information from the general public. Some of the results won’t surprise you – you already know that even when people have doubts about the mission, they are still very supportive of all of you and the work that you do, as indeed they should be. But some other things may surprise you, and show that there are still big gaps in what the public

know and understand about the military. There is still work to do to ensure that the general public fully understands what military life is all about and how they can best support the work that the Armed Forces do. n

And finally.....

We hope you have found this newsletter interesting. So that we can keep you updated in the future, we would appreciate it if you could complete and return the enclosed contact form. We have enclosed a pre-paid envelop so postage is free. Thank you for taking part in our studies. Without your input we would not be able to learn so much about the well-being and needs of serving and ex-serving members of the UK Armed Forces. This will help to ensure that people get the help that they need if and when they need it. n

King’s Centre for Military Health Research,King’s College London, Weston Education Centre, Cutcombe Road, London SE5 9RJ

Telephone: 020 7848 5351 • Fax: 020 7848 5397 • e-mail: kcmhr@kcl.ac.uk • website: www.kcl.ac.uk/kcmhr