Academics are calling for
early intervention for those at risk of becoming food insecure within the
veteran community, potentially introducing cost-saving benefits for the NHS and
supporting charities.
A study
led by Northumbria University’s Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families
Research looked at wider household poverty among veterans, with a particular
focus on food security in veterans’ families – meaning they are without
reliable access to nutritious and healthy food.
The Tri-Service Food
Insecurity Study, which was funded by the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and SSAFA, the UK’s oldest tri-service
military charity, found that younger veterans of working age are most at risk
of becoming food insecure.
Using survey data from UK
veterans and their families, researchers have identified those veterans who may
be at greater risk of food insecurity, which can be used to help identify those
within the community who are likely to experience food insecurity, and wider
financial hardship, before they reach a ‘crisis’ point.
Age, having a long-term medical
condition, living in rented accommodation, receiving benefits, lower military
rank on leaving the services and marital status are all associated risk
factors. This information creates an opportunity to provide veterans who are at
the most risk of food insecurity, with tailored support and in doing so, enables
early intervention and the early allocation of resources.
Professor Matthew Kiernan, Director of the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research at Northumbria
University said: “Now that we have an idea of what a veteran who is
experiencing food insecurity and financial hardship looks like, we can consider
how we might coordinate services to intervene to avoid crisis and build support
around the causes of food insecurity and not just addressing the symptoms. A multi-organisational approach needs to be
adopted so that the findings of studies such as this can make a difference to
the everyday lives of veterans.
“The next step is to look at how health
and social care services can better work in tandem with military charities to
identify veterans who might be reporting, or experiencing, these difficulties, so
that they are referred to an appropriate service within the military charities
sector.”
Using preventative measures would
not only benefit veterans and their families, but could also reduce the
economic cost of crisis and the need for additional support from the NHS and
charities, which is often costly.
Anna Wright, Chief Executive of the Armed Forces Covenant
Fund Trust, said: “‘The Trust welcomes this important work to identify the risk
factors of food insecurity. This knowledge could help organisations to
provide early intervention and support that is tailored to individuals,
particularly those most at risk. Early intervention means that less
resource is required and, crucially, that Veterans are supported before they
reach crisis point.”
The research team now want to
understand what drives the identified risk factors to address these issues
within a proposed model for early referral within primary healthcare.
This study is part of a programme
of research from the Northern Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research
and the Healthy Living Lab at Northumbria University, working closely with
SSAFA and their volunteer network to collect and analyse a range of anonymised
data from serving personnel, veterans and families from all three branches of
the Armed Forces community.
The Tri-Service Food Insecurity
Study can be found on TheArmed Forces Covenant Fund Trust website.
Visit the Northern
Hub for Veterans and Military Families Research’s webpages to find out
more about their work to improve the health and social wellbeing of
veterans and their families.
Northumbria
University is dedicated to reducing health and social inequalities and
improving social, economic and health outcomes for the most marginalised in
society. Through its new Centre
for Health and Social Equity, known as CHASE,
researchers will be delivering world-leading health and social equity research
and creating innovative, evidence-based policies and data-driven solutions to
bring impactful change across the region, the UK and globally.
