Your participation is needed for the Veteran community member survey.
Overview of the project
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) is performing a Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) in 2023. The goal is to develop an inclusive, holistic vision of the health and well-being of Canadian Veterans. The process involves collecting and analyzing health and well-being information from many sources, including reports and studies by VAC and other organizations. The results of the assessment will be available in early 2024 on the VAC website. The Veteran community and our health research and service partners will have useful, comprehensive information on the health strengths and needs of Veterans.
Why is this assessment important?
Health services in Canada are set up to address the needs of Canadians. To best address the specific needs of Veterans, the project will help:
- Shed light on the health and well-being priorities of Veterans;
- Reduce inequity in policy development and service delivery; and
- Support the planning and allocation of health resources for Veterans.
With new knowledge of the broad range of factors and conditions that influence Veterans’ health and well-being, we have a strong foundation to:
- Provide better services and support for the health and well-being of all Veterans, including women, 2SLGBTQI+, Indigenous, Black and racialized Veterans and Veterans with disabilities.
- Strengthen government–community partnerships to support Veteran health and well-being
Timeline
The project will be complete and the report will be posted in 2024. Information will be shared in the reports section of the VAC website. We will share the links with all the groups we met with during our consultations and in our social media and other channels.
The diagram shows the project timeline from spring 2023 to fall/winter. In the spring, we began planning and preparation. Over the summer/fall we are reaching out to the Veteran community and conducting data collection and analysis. Early findings will be shared with the Veteran community in early 2024.
Where we are now
Take part in the research:
Veterans can participate in our online survey. Participation is voluntary and anonymous. The data collected will be shared as an addition to the CHNA report, which is going to be released at the end of June 2024. Your participation in the survey will help:
- Identify Veterans’ health and well-being priorities and this can inform future health policies
- Guide considerations for equity-deserving Veterans who have been under-represented in past research
How and when to take part in the survey
The online survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete, and will be open for data collection from May 17 to 8 July 2024.
Latest activities
With the main research complete, and as we prepare our report, we are meeting with Veteran community stakeholders to share some of our findings. This knowledge sharing is an important part of the assessment to put the research into action. Stakeholders include:
- Women Veterans
- 2SLGBTQI+ Veterans
- Indigenous Veterans
- Black and racialized Veterans
- Veterans who have disabilities
- Veterans who have experienced homelessness
- Francophone Veterans
The secondary sources we are looking at include:
What we are hearing
The stakeholders and organizations we have met with were generally positive about the project and have said they look forward to reading the final report this winter. Here are some examples of what we have heard:
- Including people with lived experience at all stages of research is important, from planning to implementation to the sharing of findings.
- Not all Veterans identify as such. Many women, 2SLGBTQI+, and Indigenous former service members do not see themselves as Veterans.
- The concept of health equity is not well-known among the community and the Veteran community is excited to learn more about how health equity impacts overall health and well-being.
- Efforts are needed to improve access to providers who understand the Veteran communities.
- Modern technology and methods can be used to connect with Veterans.
- The community health needs assessment sounds great and this is an important approach that is long overdue to understand Veterans’ health and well-being.
- It is important to be flexible in research approaches and with implementing programs and policies. Listen to what’s already being said and be adaptable!
Contact the project team
If you have questions about the CHNA project, please email us. Please do not include personal or private health information.