All members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) will eventually experience the transition from military to civilian life, a challenging shift that can have significant psychological and social implications. It is critical that we provide robust support to help veterans navigate this transition, ensuring their well-being and successful reintegration into civilian life. A recent study conducted by Gallipoli Medical Research (GMR) on a new 8-week group training program for ex-serving ADF veterans has yielded promising results, offering hope for better support during this critical period.

The program was developed to address the unique psychological and cultural challenges that veterans face as they move from military service to civilian life. The study followed 24 veterans who participated in the program as outpatients at the Keith Payne Unit, Greenslopes Private Hospital, assessing their well-being and adjustment before and after the program, and again three months later. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Veterans reported high satisfaction with the program, rating it highly for engagement, usefulness, and their perceived improvement in adjusting to civilian life.

The study used the Military-Civilian Adjustment & Reintegration Measure (M-CARM) developed in partnership with RSL Queensland, a reliable 21-item self-report questionnaire that evaluates how well veterans adjust to civilian life. The M-CARM assesses five key areas: purpose and connection, help-seeking, beliefs about civilians, resentment and regret, and regimentation. These insights helped measure the program’s impact on veterans’ reintegration. To learn more about the M-CARM, visit www.m-carm.org.

The findings showed that participants’ adjustment and reintegration to civilian life significantly improved—both immediately after the program and at the 3-month follow-up. These results suggest that the benefits of the program were lasting. Additionally, the program demonstrated high retention and completion rates, suggesting it was both feasible and well-received. Every participant said they would recommend the program to other veterans, a strong endorsement of its value for the veteran community.

This study aligns with the recent recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which emphasized the need for enhanced support for veterans and their families during the transition from military to civilian life. The findings from this study show promise that this training program could provide an essential first step towards addressing the substantial gap in services available to veterans struggling with this transition. While the study sample was small and mostly consisted of male Army veterans, the results are encouraging and suggest that this program could be an important resource for veterans. Further research is needed to expand on these findings, including a larger and more diverse sample to explore its impact on a broader population.

This research brings hope for future programs that can help veterans reintegrate and thrive in civilian life. The study was led by Dr. Madeline Romaniuk and funded by the Ramsay Hospital Research Foundation. GMR acknowledges the Keith Payne Unit for their invaluable support in delivering the program.

For further reading, the open access publication can be found here:
Romaniuk, M., Saunders-Dow, E., Brown, K. et al. Feasibility, acceptability, and initial outcomes of a psychological adjustment and reintegration program for transitioned military veterans. BMC Psychol 12, 597 (2024).