DOCSLIB.ORG

Families Support to Transition: a Systematic Review of the Evidence

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Families Support to Transition: a Systematic Review of the Evidence Families Support to Transition A Systematic Review of the Evidence Susanne Søndergaard, Kate Robertson, Erik Silfversten, Brent Anderson, Catherine Meads, Agnes Schaefer, Jody Larkin For more information on this publication, visit www.rand.org/t/rr1511 Published by the RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif., and Cambridge, UK © Copyright 2016 RAND Corporation R® is a registered trademark. The research described in this report was funded by the Forces in Mind Trust, a Big Lottery Fund endowed spend-out Trust. RAND Europe is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to help improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Limited Print and Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited. Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.html. Support RAND Make a tax-deductible charitable contribution at www.rand.org/giving/contribute www.rand.org www.randeurope.org Preface RAND Europe was commissioned by the Forces in Mind Trust (FiMT) to conduct a study assessing the evidence base around families of UK military personnel during their transition to civilian life. While it is widely recognised that Service families influence successful transition, no systematic review has been undertaken in the UK on this subject prior to this study. To enhance understanding of the available literature in this area, RAND Europe was asked to conduct such a review. The review focuses on four areas of interest to FiMT: engagement with families, family breakdown, family housing, and spousal employment. This report presents the methods used and findings from a systematic review of the literature across the four thematic areas. It identifies key areas where relevant evidence is lacking and provides a number of recommendations on research that could be conducted in the future in order to strengthen the evidence base. This report will have relevance for policymakers responsible for policies relating to Service leavers and their families, as well as to researchers working within this field. It is also of relevance to support providers who are offering support to Service leavers and their families and who may need to be aware of which type of support is most effective. Finally, the report is relevant for funding providers, such as FiMT, in order to prioritise funding for research areas and support programmes in the future. RAND Europe is a not-for-profit policy research organisation that aims to improve policy and decisionmaking in the public interest through research and analysis. RAND Europe’s clients include European governments, institutions, non-governmental organisations and firms with a need for rigorous, independent, multidisciplinary analysis. For more information about the project or this report, please contact: Dr Susanne Sondergaard Senior Defence & Security Policy Analyst RAND Europe Westbrook Centre Milton Road Cambridge CB4 1YG UNITED KINGDOM Tel: +44 (0)1223 353329 Email: [email protected] iii Foreword by the Forces in Mind Trust One of the earliest pieces of research commissioned by Forces in Mind Trust was our Transition Mapping Study, which clearly identified the need to consider not just the Service leaver, but his or her family as well. The Study concluded that a stable family could contribute to the success of the Service leaver’s transition into civilian life, fulfilling the role as a ‘civvy street host’. But it also highlighted that in many cases, the family itself also had to undergo a transition. At the time, we coined the phrase ‘proxy transitioners’; but in reality there is nothing surrogate about it – in the areas of employment, housing, finance, relationships, health and wellbeing, the family undergoes a transition every bit as real and personally owned as that of the Service leaver. Easy is it to say, far harder to rectify the shortcomings in this process; and so following the strategy developed by Forces in Mind Trust, last year we concluded an engagement programme that sought the views of families, and a wide range of representative and other interested organizations, which resulted in our report ‘Better Understanding the Support Needs of Service Leaver Families’. It was as a direct result of this work that we commissioned the RAND Europe systematic review ‘Families Support to Transition’. By using our engagement programme to identify the priority areas, we have been able to target the key questions of: what relevant research already exists; and what methods would be most likely to be effective in filling any knowledge gaps? Thus we are confident that the strategic themes in Part 5 of our engagement programme report have been properly examined by RAND Europe here. This systematic review has revealed the paucity of UK-relevant evidence available to those whose role it is to support families, and we will now take the recommendations forward as part of our strategy to generate evidence from which to influence policy makers and service deliverers. That evidence needs to be credible to be effective. Equally, though, it does not necessarily have to be gold-plated, and we will also be looking for innovative ways to identify and to prove how better to support families in their transition. Certainly academic research has a major part to play, but it is just one part of the whole spectrum approach Forces in Mind Trust has adopted in our quest to effect real, positive change. Systematic reviews are inevitably out of date the minute they are printed and whilst thorough and comprehensive, this one will no doubt follow the same path, although the challenges to fund longitudinal and comparative studies will no doubt endure. That is why it is essential that we at Forces in Mind Trust move quickly to develop our proactive funding programme, not just so that we can capitalize upon this excellent systematic review, but also because the families within the Armed Forces Community are as deserving of the nation’s support as the Service men iv and women themselves. And move quickly, with purpose, focus and commitment, is exactly what we intend to do. Ray Lock, Chief Executive, Forces in Mind Trust Air Vice- Marshal Ray Lock CBE is Chief Executive of Forces in Mind Trust, and a former Commandant of the Joint Services Command and Staff College at Shrivenham, and Station Commander of Royal Air Force Lyneham v Table of Contents Preface ......................................................................................................................................................iii Foreword .................................................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................................... vi Figures .................................................................................................................................................... viii Tables ....................................................................................................................................................... ix Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................. xi Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. xiv Abbreviations .......................................................................................................................................... xv 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Background .................................................................................................................................. 2 1.2. Purpose and scope ........................................................................................................................ 3 1.3. Report structure ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. Methods ................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1. Overview ...................................................................................................................................... 7 2.2. Systematic review and thematic review .......................................................................................... 8 2.3. Synthesising the evidence ............................................................................................................ 14 2.4. Methodological strengths and limitations ................................................................................... 15 3. Review findings ...................................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fimt Report 2019
    King’s Research Portal Link to publication record in King's Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Jones, E., Engelbrecht, A. R., Burdett, H., Cruz, M. J., & Bhui, K. (2019). Transition from War: how veterans with post-combat disorders adjust to civilian life: Final Report. Forces in Mind Trust. Citing this paper Please note that where the full-text provided on King's Research Portal is the Author Accepted Manuscript or Post-Print version this may differ from the final Published version. If citing, it is advised that you check and use the publisher's definitive version for pagination, volume/issue, and date of publication details. And where the final published version is provided on the Research Portal, if citing you are again advised to check the publisher's website for any subsequent corrections. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the Research Portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognize and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. •Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the Research Portal for the purpose of private study or research. •You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain •You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the Research Portal Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the UK Armed Forces: Traumatic Exposures in Iraq & Afghanistan and Responses of Distress (TRIAD Study) January 2021
    The evolution of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the UK Armed Forces: Traumatic exposures in Iraq & Afghanistan and responses of distress (TRIAD study) January 2021 - 1 - Contents King’s Centre for Military Health Research ......................................... 2 Acknowledgements.............................................................................. 4 Foreword .............................................................................................................5 Executive summary ..........................................................................................6 • Background ....................................................................................... 7 • Objectives .......................................................................................... 7 • Methods ............................................................................................ 7 • Results ............................................................................................... 8 • Discussion ....................................................................................... 10 • Implications ..................................................................................... 11 Introduction .....................................................................................................12 • Research objectives ......................................................................... 13 Methods ............................................................................................................14
    [Show full text]
  • The Mental Health of Serving and Ex-Service Personnel
    The mental health of serving and ex-Service personnel A review of the evidence and perspectives of key stakeholders A report prepared by the Mental Health Written by Chiara Samele Foundation on behalf of the Forces in Mind Trust May 2013 Contents Acknowledgments ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Forward ........................................................................................................................................................ 5 Forces in Mind Trust .................................................................................................................................... 6 Mental Health Foundation .......................................................................................................................... 7 Executive summary ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Main findings of the review .................................................................................................................... 9 Help-seeking, barriers to care and stigma ............................................................................................ 10 Use of mental health services ............................................................................................................... 10 In-services and support for serving personnel ....................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Forces' Favourite Paper
    Rap movie classic High-speed read The Bag Eminem Bio of jet Forces' Oscar winner genius on DVD Whittle favourite Win! Win! Friday January 29 2021 paper ● See RnR p5 ● See p23 No. 1507 70p –– ●Pages GULF WAR 15-21 30 years on Motorsports Setbacks end season Wingman UAV gets £30m lift ● See p28 Cricket Pandemic's bowled out Simon Mander DEFENCE CHIEFS have unveiled plans for a fleet of uncrewed fighters designed to fly at high speed alongside RAF Typhoons and F-35s. Belfast-based firm Spirit AeroSystems has landed a £30 million three-year deal to design prototypes of the aircraft, dubbed 'Loyal Wingman', which the RAF hopes will be supporting combat operations by 2030. ● Continued on p3 ● See p29 We are excellent. We are QE. The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) has found Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate to be ‘Excellent’ across all schools, praising our pupils’ outstanding academic achievements and personal development. Queen Ethelburga’s has a long-standing relationship with the British Forces, welcoming students from military families for over 100 years. We currently have over 300 such students living as part of the QE family. We welcome day students from 3 months to 19 years and boarders from 6 years to 19 years. We ±ųå)e±ÏÏųåÚĜƋåÚ±ĹÚĜĹųåÏŅčĹĜƋĜŅĹŅüŅƚųÏŅĵĵĜƋĵåĹƋƋŅ8ŅųÏåŸü±ĵĜĬĜåŸØƵåŅýåų±ŸĜčĹĜĀϱĹƋ reduction in fees. In 2019/20 this meant that our Forces families paid just 10% of fees. In 2020/21 8ŅųÏåŸü±ĵĜĬĜåŸƵĜĬĬޱƼģƚŸƋƊĿĂĂŞåųƋåųĵØŞåųÏĘĜĬÚŠƵĜƋĘƋĘåÆåĹåĀƋŸŅüĘĜĬÚϱųåŅƚÏĘåųŸƋĘĜŸ ĀčƚųåϱĹÆ屟ĬŅƵ±ŸƊƅŎĉŞåųƋåųĵšţ We pride ourselves on our wrap-around specialist pastoral care for our students, providing a secure and supportive home from home.
    [Show full text]
  • FORCES in MIND TRUST How Counter-Insurgency Warfare
    FORCES IN MIND TRUST How Counter-Insurgency Warfare Experiences Impact upon the Post- Deployment Reintegration of Land-Based British Army Personnel John D Brewer and Stephen Herron Photo copyright: Forces in Mind Trust 1 FORCES IN MIND TRUST How Counter-insurgency Warfare Experiences Impact upon the Post- Deployment Reintegration of Land-Based British Army Personnel Grant number FiMT14/1017QUB End-of-Award Report Professor John D Brewer HDSocSci, MRIA, FRSE, FAcSS, FRSA Principal Investigator and Dr Stephen Herron Post-Doctoral Research Fellow The Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice Queen’s University of Belfast Belfast BT7 1NN Northern Ireland 2 Table of Contents 1. Foreword by Air Vice Marshall Ray Lock CBE P 4 2. Executive Summary of Report Pp 5-12 3. Executive Summary of Policy Recommendations Pp 13-15 4. Introduction Pp 16-20 5. Research Design Pp 21-28 6. Literature Review Pp 29-51 7. Research Findings and Analysis Pp 52-111 8. Policy recommendations Pp 112-122 9. Conclusion Pp 123-138 10. Bibliography Pp 139-144 11. Appendices Pp 145-155 1. List of Gatekeepers 2. International Advisory Board Members 3. Biographies of the Authors 4. Participant Information Sheet 5. Informed Consent Form 3 FOREWORD “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”, wrote philosopher George Santyana in the first half of the 20th Century. The two World Wars that defined that Century have though proven to be the exception rather than the rule. The UK’s Armed Forces, and in particular the British Army, have been consistently engaged over many decades in counter- insurgency warfare, which places unique demands on the very souls of those who fight.
    [Show full text]