By Mark Squibb | Vol. 12 No. 23 (November 14, 2019)
A former Mobile Central High School student has been awarded the prestigious Wounded Warriors Doctoral Scholarship.
Queen’s University’s Ashley Williams, formerly of Bay Bulls, was awarded the annual scholarship, which will help fund her research on how veterans access healthcare as they transition from the federal healthcare offered to military personnel to the civilian, provincial system.
“I was pretty happy. They’re a really fantastic organization,” said Williams, noting that the group offers programs and services for veterans firmly rooted in evidence and research.
“I know some of the previous scholars as well, so I was really honoured and grateful to be selected to be a part of that group, because they do amazing work,” she added. “It’s exciting, and maybe a little overwhelming initially, to be a part of that.”
Each annual winner is awarded $18,000 per year for two years, plus funding to attend the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) Forum. It’s part of a 10-year, $400,000 doctoral scholarship commitment that Wounded Warriors Canada made to the organization in 2013.
Ashley Williams, centre, at a recent conference where she presented her research on health care for Canadian Forces members who leave the service. From left to right are Lieutenant Colonel (Ret'd) Chris Linford, Dr. Duncan Shields, Dr. Milena Spasojevic, Dr. Megan McElhera, Ashley Williams, Dr. Tim Black, Captain (Ret'd) Phil Ralph, Dr. Linna Tam-Seto, and Dr. Celina Shirazipour.
When military personnel make the transition to civilian life, there are several adjustments that must be made. Not least of all, how they access healthcare.
“My PHD research specifically looks at access to primary care during the military to civilian transition,” said Williams. “When Canadian Armed Forces members are in service, they access the healthcare system that exists within the Canadian Armed Forces. It’s called the Canadian Forces Health Services, and it’s federally operated. So, when they leave service, they have to access the same health care systems that we all access as civilians, which are provincially operated. And those two systems are quite different.”
Williams said little research has been done on the transition between the two systems.
“There’s some research that gets at this a little bit in terms of how easy was it for people to find a family doctor. But there’s nothing that really specifically looks at what was that process like when you left one health system for another, within the broader context of leaving military service and entering civilian life. Most veterans do well when they transition into civilian life, but there is about a third, or just under a third, who report difficulty. My question was ‘What does the health service transition look like, and what kind of relationship does it have to how people do as they transition?’ I’m also interested in knowing how primary care is provided to veterans who are transitioning.”
Much of the challenge of course comes from the differences between the federal and provincial systems.
“The Canadian Forces health system tends to be a lot more streamlined, and there’s not a whole lot of navigation required on the part of the military member,” Williams explained. “As a civilian, you have to take care of that on your own. You have to find your own family doctor. (Whereas) every time you move to a new base, you have access to healthcare. It’s not something you have to scramble to find. Which is not the same for their families— their families have to access provincial healthcare.”
Williams noted that military healthcare is geared towards the individual, while provincial healthcare is geared towards families and communities.
Also, there are indications, said Williams, that veterans may experience health conditions, ranging from arthritis to depression, at higher rates than civilian populations, and she wonders if healthcare providers are well informed of the unique needs of veterans.
Williams said there were both professional and personal pathways that led her to her current research.
When she was studying for her Masters degree in occupational therapy at Queen’s University, she worked with faculty members on family-related research projects. Also, her brother Shane Williams is a former Air Force member who recently transitioned back to civilian life.
“It piqued my interest in what it was like to go through that process and what might the role of primary care be in facilitating and helping veterans through that transition,” she said.
Williams hopes her research will lead to tangible, on-the-ground results.
“My end goal is to add to our understanding of military/civilian transition by shedding light on the health care piece of that transition, and hopefully be able to provide some knowledge and understanding to healthcare providers.”
Other researchers who have been awarded the scholarship, which was inaugurated in 2013, have seen concrete results from their research, said Williams, including a children’s camp that was recently started based upon research by a prior scholarship winner.
“So, it’s exiting to hear about the trajectory of your peers who’ve come before you. It ramps you up to keep doing what you’re doing and try and make an important contribution to military members and their family,” Williams said. “Being able to see other people, who aren’t that much farther ahead than I am, being able to transition their work from typing at your desk to actually making a difference in people’s lives is really exciting… As Canadians, we have a responsibility to take care of Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans, and their families. This is sort of a way of giving back to people who have made sacrifices for the benefit of the country at large.”
