2017
Date published: 2017
Releasing from the military and adjusting to civilian life can be stressful. Planning for life after military service can help prevent issues down the road for Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members and their families.
What is this Research About?
As part of Road to Civilian Life research, partners from CAF and Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) developed a transition checklist to help releasing and released members think through whether they and their families are prepared to adjust to civilian life.
What did the Researchers Do?
Based on published literature, findings from earlier Life After Service Studies, and consultations with staff from transition teams at VAC and CAF, the researchers developed two prototypes of a transition tool, one for serving members preparing for release and one for Veterans.
The prototypes included two questions in each of these six domains of well-being: employment or other meaningful activity, finances, health, life skills and preparedness, social integration, and housing and physical environment. The prototypes allowed users to score themselves into one of three categories for each question:
- should be good to go (green)
- need to think about it (yellow)
- consider seeking assistance (red)
The checklist tools were finalized after the prototypes were tested and refined based on two sets of interviews with CAF members and Veterans.
What did the Researchers Find?
The researchers found several advantages of this tool including that the transition checklist:
- Appears to be engaging and encourages useful self-reflection
- Prompts CAF members and Veterans to consider seeking additional assistance with transition when they might not have otherwise done so
- Can be used by spouses or partners, family members, friends, advocates, and support services to help members and Veterans
- Can be used by support staff to guide discussions with releasing members and Veterans
- Features a green/yellow/red colour scheme which is familiar to CAF members, as it is also used in mental health and deployment readiness assessment
- Is confidential and does not require the user to divulge results to anyone
- Can be adapted for different support service and cultural contexts. It can be used by any government, non-governmental organization or private sector agency.
Source
Thompson JM, Dursun S, Lee J, Skomorovsky A, Lockhart W, Macintosh S, MacLean MB. Self-assessment of Need for Assistance with Transition to Civilian Life: Development of the Road to Civilian Life (R2CL) Transition Checklist. Charlottetown, PE: Research Directorate, Veterans Affairs Canada and Ottawa, ON: Director General Military Personnel Research and Analysis, Canadian Armed Forces. VAC Research Directorate Technical Report. 26 January 2017.