Thank you for the invitation to speak to you today.
Over the past few weeks, the committee has heard about critical gaps in data collection and research on women veterans' health across many areas. Researchers at the Atlas Institute have observed this as well through a recent research gap analysis that we conducted, which also prompted a need for us to identify specific areas for further investigation. Accordingly, we are prioritizing research on women veterans’ well-being and engaging women veterans in the process.
To identify a relevant topic for study, we hosted a consultation series with a group of women veterans between September 2022 and January 2023. The objective was to understand their perspective on what areas are important to study. We know that for research to be relevant to and resonate with women veterans, it needs to be guided by their insights.
Twelve women veterans from across Canada shared their experiences, prudent recommendations and timely ideas. We synthesized their input into a study topic and held a follow-up meeting with some of them to verify and validate that topic.
Through this engagement, we determined that our new study will explore how women’s experiences in service might relate to mental health outcomes as a woman veteran, something that has been emphasized in these meetings. Informed by the principles of community-based research, our study—the Athena project—will involve women veterans in all aspects and stages.
At present, we are forming a working group of CAF and RCMP veterans who will collaborate with us on the design and execution of this study. The call for members received 78 responses, including 10 from women veterans of the RCMP. This extraordinary response underscores the significance of this topic and the eagerness of women veterans to help shape and contribute to research.
In addition to our engagement with women veterans, we asked our research counterparts in government and academia for help in developing the consultation series. We value collaboration and information sharing across organizations and departments, and we are fortunate to have relationships with researchers and leaders at VAC and OVO and in academic institutions.
As the Atlas Institute is committed to publicly sharing information about our research, the details of this new study, including the approach we are taking, are already available on our website. We ensure that our research findings are accessible to veterans and their families by publishing our work in open access journals and prioritizing knowledge mobilization through the co-development of resources and by hosting events about new findings.
While it's still in the early stages, it is our hope that our study will contribute new evidence to improve mental health outcomes for women veterans and identify opportunities to enhance post-service quality of life. Because it will inquire about women’s experiences during service, the findings may be able to inform upstream approaches.
Women veterans of the CAF and RCMP deserve mental health care and support that is responsive to their sex- and gender-specific needs. To get there, decision-makers and service providers need accessible, current and relevant research, which the Atlas Institute is striving to provide.
Thank you for your time. We look forward to your questions.