Lifespan outcomes of military service

描述(由申请者提供)：服兵役对健康和幸福的多个方面都有深远的影响。虽然退伍军人是为了身体健康而被挑选出来的，服兵役也会带来一些积极的好处，但它也可能产生短期和长期的负面后果。迫切需要一种综合的、多学科的方法，以了解服兵役的风险和保护方面之间的动态相互作用。我们的目标是推进一种寿命方法来研究服兵役对以后生活结果(即健康、福祉、社会和经济状况)的长期影响。为了实现这一目标，我们提出了四个目标：1.创建一个全国性的学者网络，研究服兵役的终生结果。我们将在波士顿大学和退伍军人管理局波士顿分校的现有资源以及我们与俄勒冈州立大学团队成员的持续合作的基础上再接再厉。在咨询小组的建议下，我们将扩大我们的网络，以包括更广泛的成员和数据资源。2.建立网上信息资源，促进国家数据库的获取和综合利用。3.利用本资料中描述的数据进行综合研究，开发和测试兵役长期结果的寿命模型，使用最先进的统计方法分析纵向数据4.通过讲习班、虚拟会议和全国老龄和兵役问题会议，促进采用寿命观点的新研究。作为我们正在进行的活动的一部分，我们将通过公共访问网站传播我们开发的信息资源；介绍并发表我们的研究结果；培养下一代学者，研究服兵役对健康和福祉的影响。 公共卫生相关性：退伍军人在老龄化人口中占相当大的比例；了解他们的军事经历，特别是部署到战斗中的影响，将增强我们对他们在老龄化过程中对健康和福祉的长期影响的知识。虽然这方面的知识有助于了解当前的老年退伍军人群体，但它也将有助于为OIF/OEF的“新”退伍军人制定计划，因为他们将在未来几年变老。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Military service has profound effects on multiple aspects of health and well-being across the lifespan. Although veterans are selected for good health, and military service confers some positive benefits, it can also have short- and long-term negative consequences. There is an urgent need for an integrative, multidisciplinary approach to understand the dynamic interplay between the risk< and protective aspects of military service across the lifespan. Our objective is to advance a lifespan approach to the study of the long-term effects of military service on later life outcomes (i.e., health, well-being, social and economic circumstances). To accomplish this, we propose four aims: 1. Create a national network of scholars to study the lifespan outcomes of military service. We will build on existing resources at Boston University and VA Boston, and our ongoing collaboration with team members at Oregon State University. With advice from our Advisory Group we will expand our network to include a broader range of members and data resources. 2. Build a web-based information resource to promote access to and integrative uses of national databases. 3. Conduct integrative research using data described in this resource, developing and testing a lifespan model of the long-term outcomes of military service, using state-of-the-art statistical methods for the analysis of longitudinal data 4. Promote new research adopting a lifespan perspective, by means of workshops, virtual conferencing, and a national conference on Aging and Military Service. As part of our on-going activities, we will disseminate via a public-access website the information resources we develop; present and publish our findings; and develop the next generation of scholars addressing the lifespan implications of military service on health and well-being. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Veterans constitute a sizable proportion of the aging population; understanding the impact of their military experiences, especially deployment to combat, will enhance our knowledge of their long-term effects on health and well-being in aging. While this knowledge is useful for understanding the current cohort of aging veterans, it will also be useful in planning for the "new" veterans of OIF/OEF as they age over the coming years.