Research Proposal
Literature Review: Mentally Disabled Veterans Employment Issues
Natoya Wayne
The University of Arizona Global Campus
PSY635: Psychopharmacology
Dr. Kristopher Bradley
August 10, 2021
Introduction
Mental health and Counseling are perhaps one of the most important fields of psychology. These two fields are often group together and studies shows the relevance of these fields of psychology because they are projected to grow 25 percent from 2019 to 2029 which is very much faster than the average for all the other fields of psychology(bls.gov). Due to the current Covid-19 Pandemic which resulted in many psychological distresses, economic issues and uncertainty, there has been a high demand for mental health and counseling professionals. Amongst those demands are the need for Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors who often work for the Veterans Affairs benefits offices and other federal organizations. Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors are professionals who specialized in the field of mental health and counseling and are required to have a master’s degree and beyond in psychology or social services. Licensure is not a requirement, but Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors need to possess the required skill and knowledge in mental health and counseling to assist disabled veterans with employment, educational and transitional Counseling from the military. This literature review explores employment issues amongst disabled veterans.
Employment Issues Amongst Mentally Disabled Veterans
Making sure employment needs for veterans are addressed is a critical objective for the Veteran Affairs division and the government of America. Many veterans, particularly those suffering from psychological problems, keep experiencing hardships during their employment. Although many programs related to employment provide various services to assist the veterans, their ability to remain employed for the long term raises concern. According to Harrod et al. (2017), there are 5.5 million veterans in the United States who served in the era of the Gulf War. Most of these veterans are within the working-age and are looking for civilian employment opportunities. Numerous programs and policies have been developed at local, state, and federal levels of government, including the American Jobs Act and the Veterans Job Corp to assist these veterans to secure employment in the country. These programs provide a broad range of services, including connecting veterans to employment through web portals, career counseling, resume writing, and matching military skills with civilian jobs.
However, studies have established that veterans with mental health issues face many difficulties in civilian occupations. According to Harrod et al. (2017), a study conducted on employed veterans reveals that about 35% of veterans have challenges completing their tasks, therefore impacting their work productivity. About 25% experienced a loss of a job. Moreover, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disease (PTSD) tended to be absent on more working days, were not happy in their job, and had more challenges cooperating with their co-workers.
Harrod et al. (2017) conducted research aimed at establishing numerous factors affecting the likelihood of veterans suffering from psychological problems to maintain employment for a longer period. The study was exploratory and used a qualitative design of research. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews focusing on mental health, reintegration, and employment, and inductive thematic analysis was conducted to analyze the collected data. The study methodology significantly compares to that used by various other studies on the same subject, including Sayer et al. (2015), which studied Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans with the problems of reintegration. Therefore, the study methodology is reliable to give credible study results.
The study results identify numerous factors affecting veterans’ ability, especially those with mental health problems, to retain employment for a long period. However, before the factors, the study also established that 50% of the participants had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder either post-discharge or while still in their active duty. PTSD symptoms contributed to veterans’ feeling demoted for working in civil occupation and difficulty dealing with co-workers, all of which affected their ability to remain in their civil employment for a long period.
The study established the feeling of demotion among the veterans as one of the factors contributing to the challenge of retaining their employees for long. The participants stated that while in the military, they received extensive education and training. Some veterans had higher leadership positions in the military and led critical missions. The veterans perceived the civilian employment as demeaning, and most of their gained skills while in the military were used in the employment. The feeling of being demoted and unused skills results in most veterans looking for new employment, making them on different employments to get a work environment where their skills would be well used.
The veterans find it difficult to relate well with the civilian co-workers. The challenge was because of the work ethics, lack of loyalty, and feeling of disrespect for their military service. Some participants felt comfortable without work relationships. The inability to develop workplace relationships worked to disadvantage the veterans on work-related promotions and opportunities.
Conclusion
The results relate to factors identified in other studies as contributing to the reduced likelihood of veterans retaining their employment for long time periods. The study provides reliable and relevant results for my topic: the “Employment Issues Amongst Mentally Disabled Veterans.” The study gives insight into what veterans’ experience while in civilian jobs. Current programs of employment focus on employment obtainment; however, they do little for the maintenance. The study established that increasing awareness of the available programs to the veterans and making sure the programs’ services offer skills and resources that assist veterans to maintain their employment for the long-term is important.
References
Harrod, M., Miller, E. M., Henry, J., & Zivin, K. (2017). “I’ve never been able to stay in a job”: A qualitative study of Veterans’ experiences of maintaining employment. Work, 57(2), 259-268.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/substance-abuse-behavioral-disorder-and-mental-health-counselors.htm
Sayer, N. A., Orazem, R. J., Noorbaloochi, S., Gravely, A., Frazier, P., Carlson, K. F., ... & Oleson, H. (2015). Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with reintegration problems: differences by veterans affairs healthcare user status. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 42(4), 493-503.