From Military.com:
“Study Aims to Show Why Some
Veterans Go Hungry”
A new study seeks to understand
why some veterans experience food insecurity, having little access to healthy
food, skipping meals or using money budgeted for groceries to pay other bills. With
previous research showing that roughly a quarter of post-9/11 veterans have
experienced hunger or food insecurity at some point after their service, Nipa
Kamdar, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Houston's Department of
Health and Human Performance, sought to determine what barriers keep veterans
from obtaining and eating quality food. Using a unique approach to qualitative
research called photo elicitation, she let the veterans explain their
challenges through photographs of objects or situations they felt hindered or
helped their access to food. "This is a problem in this community, but
it's not being fully recognized," Kamdar said during an interview with
Military.com. "I really wanted to understand what was happening in the
veteran household and really get the story, rather than just the numbers."
Kamdar gave cameras to 18 low-income veterans who had at least one child
between the ages of 5 and 11. Later, she met with them to share pictures and
allow them to explain their reasons for choosing their subject matter. Kamdar
said the photographs provide insight into families facing hardships that data
or simple interviews don't convey. "Veterans may have physical or mental
health disabilities and limited social support that further restrict their
access to food," she said. "There is limited knowledge about the
barriers to accessing food within this community." Study participant
Alisha Strife, a former Army soldier injured in a Humvee accident in Iraq in
2005, said her barriers included being unable to work while recovering from her
injuries and, later, monthly health care premiums that totaled $1,700 -- more
than half her Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation. As part
of the research, she took pictures of her gas gauge on empty and her VA prescription
bottles. "A lot of it is ... just making sure those things were taken care
of. Then, there is the amount of time it takes to attend medical appointments
and take care of kids, along with the high divorce rate, or being single
parents that typically veterans may be," Strife said. Kamdar said another
veteran also took photos of his medication. The former service member explained
that, with post-traumatic stress disorder, he has bad days when he cannot cook
for his family. "It's on the other members of the family, which includes
the kids for that day, to fend for themselves," Kamdar said. While the
results have yet to be analyzed or published, Kamdar said she has learned
lessons she is now sharing with community food banks and non-profits in the Houston
area, where she did most of the research. For example, she said student
veterans with jobs and families who also are studying in college can't get to
food banks, which normally are open during the workday. She went to a central
food distribution center this week to discuss this finding, she said. "They
didn't know about how the hours of operation of some of these pantries make it
difficult for veterans to make it there," she said. Kamdar also found that
veterans are most at risk for food insecurity in the first three months of
their transition from military service, when they are trying to find a job,
establish a home and fend for themselves. She'd like to see legislation to
shorten the time period for veterans to qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program, or SNAP. It can take 30 days or more to be approved for
SNAP but, since an applicant has to show income history to qualify, they must
prove they are no longer receiving active-duty pay. "If we could get them
to access it sooner if they qualify ... it would increase access," Kamdar
said. The research was funded by the William T. Grant Foundation, a nonprofit
focused on reducing inequality among children and youth. The group was
interested in the research, Kamdar said, because food insecurity puts children
at increased risk for mental health and physical disorders, impaired learning
and decreased productivity in school. What struck her most, she said, was that
the children of these families were rarely affected by the food insecurity
because the veterans simply went without eating themselves to ensure that their
kids were fed. "They make do with what they have and make sure the kids
get what they need. It is just taken for granted that they would skip a meal,
wouldn't eat or eat just once a day," Kamdar said. "They consider
this normal." Kamdar hopes to analyze the information and publish it but
also bring the information to organizations that help veterans and those
experiencing hunger. "I don't know when I would do a gallery-type exhibit,
but if that opportunity came to get these photos out there, [I'd do it]. Me
telling you in words is not as impactful as the photos with their
captions," she said. Strife said she participated to call attention to a
little-known problem for some veterans. "Veterans don't typically ask for
help," she said, "and I don't think the VA recognizes this is a major
issue. My main reason for participating is to make sure that we get veterans
connected to the available resources."
^ This is an interesting way to understand
an important issue. Hopefully with the results we will be able to better
understand the “why” as well as to the “how” (as in how to fix this problem.) ^
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