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

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• Health communication
• help seeking
• mental health outreach
• qualitative research
• student veterans

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the participants of this study for the generosity of their time, insight into their experiences with mental health services, and recommendations for improving SSM/V mental health communications.

Conflict of interest disclosure

The authors have no conflicts of interest to report. The authors confirm that the research presented in this article met the ethical guidelines, including adherence to the legal requirements of the United States and received approval from the Institutional Review Board of the City University of New York School of Public Health and Health Policy.

Funding

No funding was used to support this research and/or the preparation of the manuscript.