The purpose of the research is to explore the veteran¡¦s perceptions in living Taiwan, back to settle in hometown, the status quo of long stay in mainland China, and why they gave up staying there for long term living but went back Taiwan. It is expected that the research results would be references for relevant authorities when they take measures to take care of the veteran¡¦s livelihood. The study is mainly a qualitative research with in-dept interview and literature review, while the research scope is limited only to those senior veterans in long-term care at certain nursing home of Veterans Affairs Commission, Executive Yuan in certain area who have given up long-time living in mainland China but went back to settle in Kaohsiung area, which totally are 9 persons. The research results found that (1) though the unmarried and lonely veterans have taken the army as their homes since they retreated to Taiwan and missed their hometown, they all deeply disposed to Taiwan; (2) the senior veterans went back to their hometown only for the reason as ¡§falling leaves return to roots¡¨, ¡§happily reunion with family¡¨, but the connection of family feeling was based on money; (3) when back to hometown, the livelihood of those senior veterans were mostly out of question, part of them get married and built houses, or even supported their relatives and inferiors with money; (4) the main reasons they gave up living there were the cold weather, inadequate medical care and so on. There are 3 dimensions in the research¡¦s suggestions: 1. the mental health network for veterans (including case management etc.) should be built up; 2. the business of veterans¡¦ long stay in mainland China should be forwarded (so as the mechanism positively assisting veterans in long term care to go back Taiwan should be established); 3. the practice of long-term care institution for veterans (providing the second time holistic care service and so on for the senior veterans) should be developed.

Abstract The study aims to analyze and probe into the possible impacts brought by the image transformation of Du-Shing 10th Village, a veteran community. We try to understand the residents¡¦ willingness to get involved and the feasibility of giving a brand new appearance, ¡§cultural park¡¨, to Du-Shing 10th Village, and to promote the development of cultural tourism in Penghu. In addition, we also consult the related authorities and resident representatives for their ideas and opinions toward the development scheme of the project. At first, help the residents to understand the meaning of idle space reuse and the significance of culture conservation. Then, explain the concept of transforming Du-Shing 10th Village into a cultural park to the residents and hopefully improve their willingness to support and to participate in the project, or strengthen the tourists¡¦ motivation to have a cultural tour to Penghu. Multiple tourism types can meet different tourists¡¦ needs. The idea not only can connect with the surrounding tourist spots to solve the problem with overcrowded tourists during the high season, it can also increase the re-visiting rate. For the orientation of the future transformation scheme, strategic implementation of sustainable development is one of the most important elements to sustain a local culture. In addition, without a doubt, the cooperation of local government authority, the conservation of the characteristic of a local culture and the feasibility of a scheme are all indispensible factors to keep promoting a local culture¡¦s development. The platform created by Cultural Affairs Bureau and Tourism Bureau can also be leveraged to propagate the culture of veteran communities to draw the attentions of tourism or travel business operators, tourists and residents for the purpose of reaching the common interest, promoting the development of cultural tourism, raising the willing of local residents to get involved, boosting the economic effects of Penghu and; furthermore, ensuring the sustainable development of the offshore cultural tourism.

The role that support systems play in new teachers' levels of school commitment has been widely documented. However, veteran teachers' levels of commitment have not been as closely studied. According to the department of education in a Southeastern state, the veteran teacher attrition rate at a Title I school in an urban school district was in the double digits for several years. High veteran teacher attrition rates and low levels of commitment can cause problems such as loss of continuity of instruction for students. The purpose of this study was to identify veteran teachers' perceptions of their levels of school commitment and how the district can support and retain veteran educators. Self-determination theory, as it relates to the satisfaction of teachers' needs and concerns in the context of their work environment, formed the conceptual framework for this study. The study was implemented to explore research questions related to veteran teachers' needs and concerns, working conditions, and supports. A case study research design was utilized. Interview data were collected from a criterion-based, purposeful sample of 10 veteran teachers. These data were analyzed inductively for common themes and patterns and resulted in findings based on veteran teachers' needs and concerns such as greater district and parent support and job-embedded professional development. A project was developed based on the findings to address the problem. The project focused on creating professional learning communities to support veteran teachers and increase their levels of school commitment. Positive social change can result from creating these professional learning communities for veteran teachers in order to address their needs and concerns, such as greater school commitment for veteran teachers and more continuity of instruction for students, which will result in higher academic achievement.

Veterans of the Iraqi and Afghanistan conflicts have frequently returned with injuries such as mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More recently, concern has been raised about the large number of returning soldiers who are diagnosed with both. Literature exists on the neuropsychological factors associated with either alone, however far less research has explored the effects when combined (PTSD+mTBI). With a sample of 206 OEF/OIF veterans, the current study employed neuropsychological and psychological measures to determine whether participants with PTSD+mTBI have poorer cognitive and psychological outcomes than participants with PTSD-o, mTBI-o, or veteran controls (VC), when groups are matched on IQ, education, and age. The PTSD+mTBI and mTBI-o groups exhibited very similar neuropsychology profiles, and both PTSD+mTBI and mTBI-o performed significantly (α=.01) worse than VC on executive functioning and processing speed measures. There were no significant differences between VC and PTSD-o on any notable neuropsychology measures. In contrast, on the psychological measures, the PTSD+mTBI and PTSD-o groups were identical to each other and more distressed than either mTBI-o or VC. These findings suggest there are lasting cognitive impairments following mTBI that are unique to the condition and cannot be attributed to known impairments associated with distress.

Att söka stöd och hjälp efter internationell militär insats om det uppstått fysiska skador är för de flesta fullt naturligt och accepterat. Vid psykisk ohälsa är det tyvärr inte lika självklart att erkänna för sin omgivning att man behöver stöd och hjälp. Problematiken kan utgöras av stigma, vilket innebär att man inte vill ses som avvikande eller annorlunda, att utpekas som den som inte orkade med psykiskt.   Är det så att vårdbehovet inte är känt av Försvarsmakten uppstår ett mörkertal för dem som enligt lag har uppföljningsansvar, dvs. FM.   Arbetet syftar till att undersöka hur stor påverkan rädslan för stigmatisering är, efter avslutad internationell militär insats. / Receiving support and help for physical injuries when returning from a military operation is natural and fully acceptable. As far as doing the same thing when having mental illness is not as likely to happen. The shame of admission in front of the people around you holds you back.  The problem might be stigma; you do not want to be seen as odd or different, seen as someone who mentally could not cope with the experience.   If the need for care is unknown to the Armed Forces then there will be an unknown number of individuals who do not receive the support they are entitled to by law.   This thesis aims to investigate how much impact the fear of stigmatization is after an international military operation.

Institutions of higher education are a key pathway for supplying the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. Military service members have been identified as STEM-ready and a potential pool for STEM as they transition into civilian careers. Furthermore, women are the fastest growing subpopulation of veterans and may decrease the gender gap within STEM. Higher education researchers are interested in understanding the characteristics and experiences of students who select STEM majors and then persist to graduation. Literature related to women veterans is limited and a qualitative case study approach was utilized to achieve an in-depth understanding of their college experiences. This study examined four women who were successfully navigating STEM majors at one institution and revealed their varying motivations for enrollment and persistence. Three themes generated from this study included: self-awareness, success is personal, and military experience matters. Subsidiary themes included starting over; strategy; salience of age; stage of life; self-advocacy; standards; personal attributes; past experiences; personal responsibility for learning; procuring resources; career path (STEM) reinforced or introduced; creditable and credible; and cultivated soft skills. Veteran critical theory, multiple dimensions of identity and intersectionality were useful frameworks to reference as participants expressed the influence of their identities on their life and military experiences. The findings illuminate ways institutions of higher education can facilitate women veterans' success as students, supplying much needed diversity to the STEM pipeline.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Covenant Theological Seminary, 1997. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-210).

abstract: Military veterans have a significantly higher incidence of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), depression, and Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to civilians. Military veterans also represent a rapidly growing subgroup of college students, due in part to the robust and financially incentivizing educational benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The overlapping cognitively impacting symptoms of service-related conditions combined with the underreporting of mTBI and psychiatric-related conditions, make accurate assessment of cognitive performance in military veterans challenging. Recent research findings provide conflicting information on cognitive performance patterns in military veterans. The purpose of this study was to determine whether service-related conditions and self-assessments predict performance on complex working memory and executive function tasks for military veteran college students. Sixty-one military veteran college students attending classes at Arizona State University campuses completed clinical neuropsychological tasks and experimental working memory and executive function tasks. The results revealed that a history of mTBI significantly predicted poorer performance in the areas of verbal working memory and decision-making. Depression significantly predicted poorer performance in executive function related to serial updating. In contrast, the commonly used clinical neuropsychological tasks were not sensitive service-related conditions including mTBI, PTSD, and depression. The differing performance patterns observed between the clinical tasks and the more complex experimental tasks support that researchers and clinicians should use tests that sufficiently tax verbal working memory and executive function when evaluating the subtle, higher-order cognitive deficits associated with mTBI and depression. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Speech and Hearing Science 2017

Research on military health indicates that some members of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) experience challenges during their military-to-civilian (MTC) transition(s). This novel study explored the Canadian public’s perceptions of the issues facing CAF members during their transition back into civilian society. Its significance is in its unique results and contribution to a previously unexplored topic within research on MTC transitions. A cross-sectional survey was administered via structured in-person interviews with 100 Canadian civilians not affiliated with the military. Results included civilian participants’ accurate as well as inaccurate perceptions about MTC transition issues compared to existing literature on veterans’ transition experiences. Participants underestimated issues regarding transitioning CAF members’ social networks and overestimated PTSD as the biggest struggle facing CAF members during their MTC transitions. Though participants accurately perceived that CAF members experience struggles during their transition, they overestimated the level of transition difficulty as reported by CAF members (Black & Papile, 2010; Life After Service Survey, 2014). Further research is recommended to examine the public’s perceptions of MTC transition issues and to better understand the potential implications of civilians’ perceptions on transitioning CAF members. / Graduate

Class of 2017 Abstract / Objectives: To determine the efficacy and toxicity of fluorouracil/leucovorin/oxaliplatin (FOLFOX) versus capecitabine/oxaliplatin (XELOX) in the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the adjuvant (aCRC) and metastatic (mCRC) setting in Veterans at the Southern Arizona Veteran Affairs Health Care System (SAVAHCS). Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted to collect efficacy and toxicity data. Subjects were included based on age, treatment setting and regimen in the preset 5-year period, and appropriate diagnosis via International Classification of Diseases-Revision 9 (ICD-9) codes. Efficacy was measured via 1-year disease-free survival (DFS) for aCRC, progression-free survival (PFS) for mCRC, and overall survival (OS) for both settings. Results: A total of 79 subjects were initially enrolled with 51 and 54 all-male subjects included in the efficacy and toxicity analysis, respectively. Mean range of age was 63-72 years old. Subjects were divided into four groups: FOLFOX aCRC (17) and mCRC (19), XELOX aCRC (10) and mCRC (8). No difference was found in 1-year DFS and OS between aCRC groups, and PFS between mCRC groups; a higher incidence of 1-year OS with FOLFOX in the mCRC setting was noted (p = 0.03). No difference was found in toxicity between FOLFOX and XELOX, except a higher incidence of hand-foot syndrome in XELOX (p = 0.0007). Conclusions: Efficacy between FOLFOX and XELOX in aCRC and mCRC is similar, while toxicity is slightly more prevalent in XELOX due to increased hand-foot syndrome incidence. These findings agreed with the results reported by prospective clinical trials.