Risk can mean different things.
When it comes to using these tools, what's important is that there are a number of factors that have to be looked at. There is not just one. Even the word “risk” in a risk assessment is actually a compilation of many different factors. For instance, you can have an individual who has a profound physical condition. When we look at him or her, our goal is to assess and support the person making the transition to civilian life in overcoming any impediments to that. So we're going to assess that individual's capability or risk of making that transition.
Within that, though, you might say that if the person has a profound physical issue, that's probably going to cause a transition problem. But in fact it does not in all cases. Here's an example. Someone who has a lot of family support, who is adapting well to that physical condition, and who perhaps had training in the military that is very adapted to civilian life, may present with low risk for transitioning to a successful civilian career or civilian life.
It's not a simple approach. Yet when you interview an individual, when you engage the person's family, when you develop, as a case manager, an understanding, as they do, of how to tease out information from the person and begin to do this assessment, these words take on a very important meaning. It really comes down to asking if this individual is at risk of not adapting. Is he or she at risk of something more severe? Mental health conditions can lead to more severe situations. It's very important that the professionals we have use these risk tools to identify a risk profile. We then develop our case plan based on that.
I hope that answers your question.