Veterans in Care Homes: An International Scoping Review to Inform UK Policy and Practice
Context In contrast to the mental and physical health needs of veterans, veterans’ social care needs remain relatively neglected by policymakers and researchers. Objective To inform UK veterans policy and practice by drawing together the expectedly limited international research base on veterans in care homes. Method An international scoping review of peer-reviewed and grey research literature was conducted, informed by Levac et al.’s (2010) six-stage process. Findings Thirty three papers were found to meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. The papers’ contents typically fell into one or more of the following themes: social connection, care preferences and autonomy and military-related physical and mental health needs. Limitations Very little (n=1) UK-situated research was found, with the majority of retrieved papers (n=24) being US based, impeding transferability and relevancy of the findings to a UK context. Implications Veterans’ social care needs were found to be a largely underexplored area of research, especially in the UK. There is a pressing need for UK veterans’ policymakers to redress existing imbalances in the focus of policy and research by raising the status and importance of the social care needs of UK veterans, as has been achieved on the mental and physical health fronts.
History
Refereed
- Yes
Page range
346-359Publication title
Journal of Long-Term CareExternal DOI
File version
- Accepted version
Item sub-type
ArticleAffiliated with
- Faculty of Health, Medicine & Social Care Outputs