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"What gets people in the door": An integrative model of student veteran mental health service use and opportunities for communication.

Magdalen P J HarrisP Christopher PalmedoSasha A Fleary
Published in: Journal of American college health : J of ACH (2022)
Objective: To explore barriers and facilitators to mental health care among the student service member and veteran (SSM/V) population, develop an integrative model of mental health service use, and identify health communication opportunities. Participants: Participants were 21 current and former SSM/Vs recruited online and via snowball sampling. Methods: We conducted an emergent thematic analysis of in-depth interviews that took place in February 2021. Results: We identified eight major themes. Two were contextual (military culture, SSM/V identities), three were navigational (career repercussions, recognizing need, service availability/quality), and three were paths forward (high-quality accessible services, veteran peers/spaces, relevant outreach). Conclusions: We recommend higher education institutions promote SSM/V spaces, position mental health care as utilitarian, improve everyday mental health literacy, highlight service accessibility and quality, and deliver communications that reflect the diversity of SSM/V identities beyond the "warrior" archetype.
Keyphrases
  • mental health
  • healthcare
  • health information
  • quality improvement
  • medical students
  • public health
  • primary care
  • social media
  • optical coherence tomography
  • climate change
  • medical education