The COVID-19 pandemic is a unique and challenging situation. It has created a great deal of uncertainty for many and people have been required to make enormous changes to how they live their lives. However individuals may experience, and respond to, the situation differently.
We would like to check in with you to see how you are doing. Everybody we would like to hear from will have been sent an email, with a personalised link for them to click to join the study.
It is important to understand the impact of the pandemic on the health and well-being of veterans. We would like you to tell us about your experiences during the pandemic. The answers you give to our online questionnaire will tell us if your health and well-being has changed since you last took part in our Health and well-being Cohort Study and to compare the experiences of ex-serving personnel during the pandemic with people from other groups in the population. This will help to inform policy and may help to ensure that people get the support they need. It is also possible that there are some positive effects and we would like you to tell us if that is the case.
The questionnaire asks about your mental health, lifestyle behaviours, help-seeking, accommodation/living arrangements, family, loneliness, social support, finances, employment, and volunteering activities. It asks about any positive changes you may have experienced as a result of the pandemic, and also whether you or your friends/family have experienced any COVID-19 symptoms.
Participation is voluntary, and you are under no obligation to take part. However, to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on UK veterans, it is important to hear from as many people as possible, and so your participation really counts. We want to hear from people who feel well, in addition to those who may feel unwell or are experiencing difficulties during the pandemic. We are interested in finding out about your experiences and to understand more about the impact of the pandemic on your life. If you do not wish to take part in the study you can let us know by emailing us at [email protected] and we will not contact you again about this study.
To learn more about the study, including information on how your information will be handled and how you can withdraw from the study in future, please download our participant information sheet. If you have concerns about your health and well-being, you can download our e-guide which includes details of organisations that may be able to offer support and guidance for a range of issues that may be affecting you.
For further information on where you can find help and support, please read the signposting document. For more information about the study contact [email protected].
The King's Centre for Military Health Research (KCMHR), King's College London, is the leading civilian UK centre of excellence for military health research. Independent of the Ministry of Defence and chain of command, our research has provided much-needed evidence on the health and well-being of serving and ex-serving personnel.
