One of our key research priorities is:
The efficacy of military and veteran charities to provide effective mental health support.

Much support provided to veterans is done so through the network of services offered by military charities. One of our inaugural reports, ‘The mental health of serving and ex-Service personnel review’ (2013), published in partnership with The Mental Health Foundation, pointed toward a large number of organizations providing health and social care to ex-Service personnel, and stressed a need for robust evaluation of the effectiveness of such services (read the report).

There is a pressing need to provide good quality research to inform the ongoing provision of such services to ensure that the mental health services and treatments offered or funded by these organizations are of an appropriate standard, that they are producing or contributing toward the intended results, and that they are not causing unintended harm. Concerns in this area were noted in our ‘Call to Mind’ (2015) report, commissioned in collaboration with NHS England and Community Innovations Enterprise, which highlighted that a number of charities may not be providing robust evidence-based support for the mental health-related services they support or provide (read the report, see page 40 for relevant quotes). Our Mental Health Research Programme is keen to receive applications for research that explores the efficacy of such interventions.