The Warrior Wellness Alliance (WWA), which works to connect the best healthcare providers with peer Veterans networks, at the George W. Bush Institute just released its first publication providing a set of recommended common data elements for non-profit organizations that serve Veterans, such as Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs). Common Questions to Better Serve Our Vets was published by the WWA to provide important common questions that non-profits should consider using when surveying their members. In the development of this publication, all WWA peer-network member organizations (i.e., Team Rubicon, The Mission Continues, and the Wounded Warrior Project) shared information, including: data collection practices, questions asked to new members during organization onboarding, and evaluation methods (i.e., surveys). Using these data, a list of 15 variables was developed under three broad categories: general demographics, military-specific demographic information, and Veteran well-being, which led to the “common questions.” Information collected through these “common questions” will help all stakeholders better understand the strengths and challenges of the Veteran population, and may be of particular interest to VA researchers working on a variety of issues related to transitioning service members.
For more information, contact Kacie Kelly, Deputy Director of the Bush Institute’s Military Service Initiative at KKelly@bushcenter.org .
