After military service, then what? How veterans can recover a sense of purpose

The team (see the Authors' Note below), led mostly by military veterans, has described a public health approach (tinyurl. com/y4xpmpkS) to increase health, genuine relationships and sense of purpose, and to "enrich lives." The Department of Veteran Affairs provides a directory of vete...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAging Today Vol. 40; no. 6; pp. 8 - 11
Main Authors Smith, Blayne P, Angel, Caroline M
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published San Francisco American Society on Aging 01.11.2019
Subjects
Age
Baby boomers
Community
Identity
Military service
Objectives
Volunteers
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Summary:The team (see the Authors' Note below), led mostly by military veterans, has described a public health approach (tinyurl. com/y4xpmpkS) to increase health, genuine relationships and sense of purpose, and to "enrich lives." The Department of Veteran Affairs provides a directory of veterans and military service organizations (tiny url.com/y68cpgtS) and, while these organizations' missions vary, many focus on renewing sense of purpose as a key organizational objective and, to that end, they promote community engagement through service, goal-setting through sports-related activity or via providing peer support to other veterans in need. Recommendations to increase sense of purpose in older age follow suit: engaging in goal-directed behavior, participating in meaningful activities (e.g., volunteering) and finding ways to feel more relevant to others.
ISSN:2694-5207