A point of connection? Well-being, the veteran identity and older adults – Centre for Health Effects of Radiological and Chemical Agents

Reference: Brewster, L., McWage, B., & Clark, S. J. A. (2020). A point of connection? Well-being, the veteran identity and older adults. Ageing and Society, 1-22. https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/142506/1/veterans_paper_1_accepted_2020_01_27.pdf

To explore experiences of well-being in a particular older adult community: those who have served in the armed forces
To identify how veteran identity serves to affect wellbeing and facilitate social connection

27 male participants, 3 female participants; aged between 68-99 years old and 16 reported having a disability.
Participants had enlisted voluntarily, been conscripted or undertaken national service. This service had been conducted in wartime and peacetime (including nuclear testing on Christmas Island)
Semi-structured interview approach, 60-120mins in length; framed around themes relating to military experience, comradeship and returning home
Questions included asking about life before joining the military, and experiences during service
Audio recorded and transcribed
Analysis was conducted using a data-driven constant comparison approach; themes were developed from the data.

Three themes were identified: experiences of loneliness, fictive kinship and importance of the use of military visual culture in the role of maintaining a point of connection and identifying others with shared experiences
Post-military service identity of being a veteran connected them to a community that went beyond association with specific experiences
Veteran identity was considered to be related to the idea that joining the military was a “transformative experience” which changed a person, affecting their identity long after leaving the forces
Acceptance of a veteran identity was related to increasing age and the need to share their stories before they were lost

Few spoke directly about feeling socially isolated or experiencing feelings of loneliness; instead, emphasis was placed on friends dying, attending funerals and the difficulty in talking to those who had not served in the military
Talking and sharing stories helps to reduce the feeling of loneliness and increase social connections.

Ex-service colleagues considered important; military service led to friendships that could stand the absence over time.
Telling stories of military experience allowed a bond to be maintained and friendships preserved
A common bond of service is shared – the veteran community would look after each other in times of need. Even in death, the bonds of service meant they would pay respect and recognise you as a member of the family
Social networking helped maintain connections
Use of humour, teasing and banter – only for use by the veterans, civilians are not welcome to join in

HM Armed Forces Veterans’ Lapel Badge (launched in 2004) identified as a confirmatory power that connects veterans.
Informal networks formed by wearing the badge – helped veterans to identify those who had served among older veterans, open up conversation and maintain fictive kinship
Created a form of social support and acted as a visible symbol of their service – allowing them to feel part of a community

The importance of sharing one’s military experience allows a veteran to give their life meaning and purpose.
Helping other veterans and being part of a community was considered to be positive.
Reporting oneself as a “veteran” led to older adults’ “othering” themselves and placed them outside of the civilian community – leading to feelings of loneliness
Older veterans expressed a specific need to connect with other veterans to ensure a feeling of belonging.
Stories of service allowed a bond to be formed to strength relationships and create fictive kin relationships
The veterans badge and use of social media were used to create new relationships among the veteran community.
Although the sharing of stories was important for the immediate veteran community, these stories actually reflected the feeling of being alienated from family and friends who had not served.
Interventions often use professional staff to deliver support, however there may be a role for informal peer support as veterans agree with the idea that only other veterans can understand their experiences

This paper used data from an on-going research project funded by HM Treasury Aged Veterans Fund, administer by the Royal British Legion.