Addressing the Coming of Age and Its Related Complexities Among Canada’s Veterans

Over the past century, the subject of preparing for the ageing population of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Veterans has been a recurring and sometimes predominant theme in the evolution of Canada’s Veteran care policy. Canada will soon be officially recognized as a super-aged nation when more than 20% of its population will be age 65 years or older making this era of ageing Veterans a significant area of interest.

Nearly 30 years of Canadian Veteran and military health population research shows that CAF Veterans experience more complex physical and mental health issues earlier in their lives compared with the general population. For instance, Veterans are at an increased risk of experiencing disability, frailty, or, possibly, accelerated ageing. In each era of Veteran care, Canadians have faced the challenge of the ageing population. The evolving demographic and health profile of Canadian Veterans is prompting an urgent need to re-examine how to best support older CAF Veterans, with several key challenges emerging that the academic community and policy makers can support.

It is concerning that research examining PTSD among older Veterans — and particularly its intersection with dementia — is limited. Recent qualitative research on Veterans living with dementia and PTSD in long term care homes in Canada has further shown that a lack of specialized knowledge and training exists among health care providers on how to best care for

and support these Veterans. Underexplored in the Canadian context is the role of novel evidence-based interventions that can further fill gaps in the traditional continuum of care for Veterans.

Although family and unpaid caregivers have long been acknowledged as critical resources for Veterans, to date, there has been limited academic study of not only the characteristics and needs of unpaid caregivers of older Veterans but also the effectiveness of existing resources to support them.

Research rarely addresses the needs of ageing Veterans through an intersectional lens. For example, there is a paucity of research examining the experiences and health or social outcomes of Veterans from on or more equity-deserving groups, including women, those who are racialized, Indigenous Peoples, and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. New forthcoming sources of data with expanded demographic variables collected in the latest Canadian Census and Canadian Veterans Health Survey will enable future research on ageing using an intersectional lens. As attention to understanding the evolving needs of Canada’s ageing Veterans is renewed, identifying these care gaps will be important. Thus, embracing the latest challenges as opportunities can allow Canada to better serve those who proudly served on behalf of the rest of Canadians.

Read about Canada’s Veterans’ second coming of age: Why it is time to explore the needs of our newest generation of older Veterans in the Journal of Military, Veteran and Family Health Volume 10 Issue 5: https://utppublishing.com/toc/jmvfh/10/5#sec_d5134e196

Read the report developed by the National Institute of Ageing, the Canadian Frailty Network and CIMVHR on Addressing the Coming of Age and Its Related Complexities Among Canada’s Veterans here: https://cimvhr.ca/technical-reports/