Research
"Perseverance and spirit have done wonders in all ages."
― George Washington
"The Effect of Creative Arts Therapy For Veterans: A Comparison Between In-Person and Hybrid-Based Therapy"
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003999322000491
"Serving Those Who Have Served: Creative Arts for Veterans"
https://journals.iupui.edu/index.php/ENGAGE/article/view/26061
"Nature versus urban hiking for Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder: a pilot randomized trial conducted in the Pacific Northwest USA"
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8461737/
About 17.5 veterans commit suicide a day. This is an increase from 6,000 veterans in 2001 to 6,392 veterans reported and registered with the VA; a 6.53% increase.
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. (2023). National veteran suicide prevention: annual report. VA Suicide Prevention, Office of Mental Heath and Suicide Prevention.
https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2023/2023-National-Veteran-Suicide-Prevention-Annual-Report-FINAL-508.pdf
About 0.9 current servicemembers commit suicide a day; nearly a servicemember a day. This is a 191.4% increase from 174 servicemembers in 2002 to 333 servicemembers in 2022.
Defense Casualty Analysis System. (2023). U.S. Active Duty Military deaths by year and manner. Defense Manpower Data Center. https://dcas.dmdc.osd.mil/dcas/app/summaryData/deaths/byYearManner
At least 107,400 individuals incarcerated are veterans.
Maruschak, L. M., Bronson, J., & Alper, M. (2021). Veterans in prison: Survey of prison inmates, 2016. (NCJ Publication No. 252646). U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics. https://bjs.ojp.gov/content/pub/pdf/vpspi16st.pdf
Approximately 40,000 veterans and active servicemembers are currently homeless.
Tsai, J., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2015). Risk factors for homelessness among US Veterans. Epidemiol Review 37, 177–195. doi: 10.1093/epirev/mxu004
Why is a risk of incarceration, suicide, and homeless an issue? Because the claim process is greatly flawed and leads to a lack of financial stability after service, especially for those suffering from re-assimilating back into society.
Ho, D. E., Handan-Nader, C., Ames, D., & Marcus, D. (2019). Quality review of mass adjudication: Randomized natural experiment at the board of veterans appeals, 2003-16. Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 35(2), 239-288. https://law.stanford.edu/publications/quality-review-of-mass-adjudication-a-randomized-natural-experiment-at-the-board-of-veterans-appeals-2003-16/
Veterans are sometimes censored, so advocacy is on the rise. Veterans are also under-reported for incarceration, homelessness, and suicide rates. Advocacy groups like ours and like the Disabled Veterans Organization are challenging this.
Krause, B. (2010-2023). Articles. Armo Press, LLC. https://www.disabledveterans.org/articles-2/
Bills that could make a major impact on the lives of veterans that were introduced without follow-through, so far.
H.R. 2485 – Helping Homeless Veterans Act of 2013
S. 2172 – Building Solutions for Veterans Experiencing Homelessness Act of 2021
H.R. 1282 – Major Richard Star Act
New York State legislation is leading the way in restoring VA benefits for those who were discharged other-than-honorable. "In 2019, the Restoration of Honor Act was signed into law in New York State. The Restoration of Honor Act authorizes DVS to restore access to State Veterans Benefits to Veterans who have an Other-Than-Honorable Discharge (OTH) or a General Under Honorable Conditions Discharge due to certain conditions."
New York State. (2019). Restoration of Discharge Act. New York State Department of Veterans' Services.
The above research was conducted by Founder/President, MarieAnn C. Raguso during her PhD studies at Nova Southeastern University.
Suicide awareness isn't just reading about it. It's also about putting a face to an already at-risk population.
Music Therapy is doing wonders for veterans.
Music in theatre and post-deployment: re-evaluating the therapeutic benefits of sound (Kip Pegley)
ABSTRACT
"Music has played an important role in the lives of twentieth-century combatants, but recent technologies such as MP3 players are now ubiquitous, rendering music more accessible than ever before and allowing soldiers to shape their sonic landscapes in considerably more personalized ways.
Although scholars have examined US soldiers’ musical practices while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, no research to date has investigated the musical practices of Canadian military personnel. In this article, I explore how music might help Canadian veterans manage the pressures associated with deployment and cope with psychologically-based operational stress injuries."
Poetry can help combat veterans to cope with PTSD and other mental health disorders as a form of self-guided or instructed therapy.
Veterans’ self-expression in poetry (Dale Tracy)
ABSTRACT
"Research shows that Veterans benefit from writing poetry for therapeutic purposes. This article suggests the need for future research that considers the effects of the artistic choices that Veterans make when using poetry to engage their experiences. The author focuses on one Veteran’s poem about what it means to write poetry as a Veteran. Brian Turner’s “Here, Bullet” comes from his poetry collection about his time as an American infantry team leader in Iraq. This poem centers on a solider whose body is in danger in a conflict setting. The poem becomes an alternative space to his body, a space in which he can work with his experiences.
Treating Veterans’ poetry as art can help people working with Veterans in therapeutic settings learn more about what value Veterans find in reading and writing poetry. Research shows the positive effects of creative self-expression and, specifically, poetry therapy for Veterans, including Veterans experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder."