The Veterans Administration (VA spends more than $70 billion annually (half goes toward medical care), and has suffered budget shortfalls for years as of 2006 (Axe, 2006). As more and more veterans seek assistance in the VA system these figures will only continue to increase as well. Since the VA is purely funded by tax payer dollars this has significant impact on everyone.
This qualitative study is a result of interacting with numerous veterans in various stages of reintegration as result of the author’s clinical experiences. Many of whom voiced similar struggles and obstacles involving reintegration into civilian life. Due to time constraints it was difficult to ascertain specific positive factors that assisted in their reintegration, especially in regards to those who chose to return to school after their service time. It is of great interest and potentially the well-being of these veterans to further investigate the long-term outcomes that reflect positive reintegration into civilian life, such as continuing education to better assist in this transition for these men and women in the future. It is also of great significance for those medical providers in the civilian sectors to be aware of the issues that veterans and their families face during the time of transitioning to civilian life as to better serve the needs of this population.