Veteran-friendly community project wins funding for next stage

November 5, 2024

A wide-ranging project at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, Building Veteran-Healthy Communities (BVHC), is working with communities to better support the mental health of veterans and contribute to their overall sense of well-being. The project just entered its second phase after receiving a $6.8M grant from the Veterans Health Administration. 

Nearly 6,400 veterans died by suicide in 2021. With more than 700,000 veterans living in North Carolina and approximately 18 million across the United States, this crisis is making a profound impact on communities of all sizes.  

Dr. Vaughn Upshaw

Veteran well-being and suicide prevention are often addressed at the individual level from a clinical perspective. For example, at-risk veterans are often referred for clinical mental health services by their primary care provider. However, after an impromptu conversation at a workforce development conference between Vaughn Upshaw, DrPH, EdD, MPH – principal investigator of the BVHC project and chair of the Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice at the Gillings School – and Paul Crews, MPH, former director of the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System, the idea for BVHC was born. Their shared public health background led them to agree that efforts to improve veteran well-being and suicide prevention should focus on communities.  

The BVHC project works alongside community-based organizations with the understanding that they know their community best.

The big-picture goal of the BVHC project is to support community efforts to become healthier places for veterans to live, and the project is specifically designed to work alongside community-based organizations with the understanding that they know their community best. The approach involves building awareness among local organizations of the unique issues veterans face when re-entering civilian life and fostering collaborations between the organizations to better address those issues. The project is also developing interactive resources that will provide information and tools to strategically support these community efforts. 

While the specifics may vary from community to community, focusing on the community helps support veterans from a wide range of angles including housing, food access, interpersonal connection and religious community – some of the nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes, referred to as “vital conditions.” 

Mapping resources available to veterans helps show where gaps exist.

In Phase 1, the BVHC team had three aims. First, the team conducted a literature review to identify effective solutions and factors that affect veterans that could be built into an interactive toolkit. Second, they used GIS to map vital conditions at the county level showing federal, state and local resources and gaps in services for veterans. Third, the team convened a broad group of representatives from organizations that can play a role in ensuring veteran well-being.   

Community meetings brought together local representatives of organizations that support veteran health.

For the third aim, the BVHC team hosted meetings in pilot communities to inform the development and use of the interactive toolkit and spur community interaction. These meetings provided community partners the opportunity to learn more about what assets are in their backyard and how they can better meet veterans’ needs. Although some organizations participating in these events focus specifically on serving veterans, others, like local libraries and arts councils, do not.  

“Most of us are so busy doing what we are required to do for our own organizations that we simply don’t know what else is happening in our areas,” said Upshaw. “The BVHC engagement process enlists diverse organizations and actors from across the community to share what they see as the most pressing needs in their areas, learn what resources are available to address these needs and expand the range of possible collaborations available and actions local partners can take to address the issues affecting veterans and their families.” 

The pilot communities engaged in the first phase of the project were in Alamance County (Burlington) and Edgecombe and Nash Counties (Rocky Mount). These communities brought together organizations that had not previously worked together and were successful in gaining local buy-in and support for initiatives to support local veterans. In Alamance County, the library now asks visitors whether they have served in the armed forces and, if they have, directs them to a new help desk; and the Alamance Arts Council held its first veterans arts show, which was well received. In Rocky Mount, the community partners successfully lobbied the city to provide half-price public transportation for veterans and organized a resource and health fair for veterans and their families. 

Now, as the project begins Phase 2, it will expand to new communities across North Carolina and the southeastern United States. The project will focus on developing stronger referral systems to ensure veterans and their families can access the support they need. It will also create interactive county-level maps of the assets, resources and veteran demographics so local partners and policy makers can see where support is most available and where gaps exist. The evidence-based toolkits will be used to support decision making with actors who have the necessary knowledge, skills and resources for improving veteran well-being. Simultaneously, the project will create a “train the trainer” program so that members of a community can lead others and build their own capacity to support veterans in a sustainable manner. 

In addition to supporting veteran well-being from a community-focused perspective, BVHC has also worked hard to prioritize opportunities for student involvement in research and practice activities, particularly students with personal connections to veterans. In Phase 1, more than thirty students participated, either as graduate assistants or practicum trainees and seven had posters accepted at the American Public Health Association’s 2024 Annual Meeting. Plans for the project’s next phase call for 18 students each year for the next three years. 

Looking ahead, project staff also hope to establish a recognition program, similar to Tree City USA or the National Civic League’s All-America City award, so that communities can be recognized for their efforts – and to help veterans make decisions about where they want to live.  

“I enjoy seeing people connecting with others in their communities they didn’t previously know, or know well, and discovering how much they can do together when they identify common goals,” said Upshaw. “It is inspiring to see people become more aware of and committed to serving the veterans who’ve served us.”

Visit the Building Veteran-Healthy Communities website to learn more.

Contact the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health communications team at sphcomm@unc.edu.