INTRODUCTION

Individuals with invisible injury often experience challenges to success or achieving post-

secondary according to the journal. These challenges include difficulties in interaction with

civilians, disclosure of information concerning their health conditions, coping with crowds,

seeking social support and receiving disability accommodations among others. A cognitive,

behavioral, or emotional disorder connected to trauma or major life events is referred to as an

invisible injury. The researcher’s objective was to address veterans' experiences and obstacles

acquiring their degrees while adjusting after having a "invisible injury" as well as to assess

whether continuing higher education as a veteran with injuries would be helpful in their

recuperation and day-to-day living. Additionally, they also investigated at how this illness can

affect rehabilitation programs. According to the journal, it is evident that Veterans completing

their degrees are usually linked to having lifetime savings, community reintegration, economic

opportunities and career development. According to The Veterans Educational Assistance Act,

tuition and housing ’s funds are given to Veterans. Additionally, extended time period of 15

years is given to use the benefits. The “Forever GI Bill” improves these educational benefits

through elimination of expiration date to utilize these advantages and additionally expanding the

benefits.

METHODS

In this study, 38 Veteran participants with invisible injuries participated in this research

which was conducted by written questionnaires. The participants were recruited from various

outpatients’ clinics found at a VA medical center. These Veterans were considered appropriate

and eligible if they have had an invisible injury documented in their health records. The second

eligibility was if they had been in the last 60 months have been enrolled in a post-secondary
school. The Veterans were informed by some clinicals about the study as well as giving them

information sheets. These veterans were able to provide response vi phone or mail. Community

reintegration calculation was done using the M2C-Q (Military to Civilian questionnaire). Sixteen

items about selfcare which included selfcare, social relationships, community engagement

among others were included in this questionnaire. The calculations of qualitative data were done

through a “grand tour”. This encouraged detailed personal responses about their experiences with

post-secondary education. Following that, participants were asked about their perceptions of

accomplishment, impediments to enrolling in school, and the transitions from deployment to

reintegration into civilian life.

RESULTS

According to the findings of this study, important aspects influencing reintegration into

civilian life, as well as their educational experience, were managing education-based problems

while coping with mental and/or physical health issues, building a sense of self, and creating new

job options (s). Participants mentioned how difficult it was to balance these types of challenges

while in school, which frequently resulted in delaying their degree completion.

According to the findings, more than half of the participants stated that they struggling to

reintegrate into the community. Also, more than half of the participants struggled with making

new friends, communicating personal opinions, and attending community events. In exclusively

educational cases, some of the participants reported difficulties enrolling, obtaining eligibility for

educational benefits as a Veteran, as well as delays in receiving benefits, and having bad

interactions with college staff members.

DISCUSSION
 The researchers recommended that the college officials and health specialists should work

to work together since doing so would support student Veterans with invisible disabilities.

Veterans frequently encounter several triggers and other problems as they learn how to

reintegrate into civilian and academic life. For instance, a lot of people in public places, a lot of

noise, the design of classrooms among others. Participants offered a variety of options to address

these problems, such as enrolling in online courses, changing jobs within the same organization

to one that is more accommodating of their needs, extending the time allotted for completing a

degree, seeking various forms of therapy among others.

EVALUATION

The detailed questions that were posed to the participants are a strength of this study.

They were comprehensive, and during the interviews, the researchers pushed the Veterans to

give thorough and intimate answers. The answers gathered from these questionnaires and

interviews are pertinent and support the inquiries researchers had on particular problems or

difficulties. Finding the gaps and weak points that cause veterans to have problems with their

education and community integration is another skill.

The small number of participants who accepted to take part in the study poses a

constraint; of the 70+ Veterans who were contacted, 38 had made the decision to take part. A

greater sample size is good for research; thus, it would lend more credibility if there were more

participants with a wider range of diversity. The amount of time required for education (sixty

months) before a person may be accepted into the study is another restriction. Fewer participants

can qualify since the quantity of acceptable time has been restricted. It would be easier to

determine how the research is advancing or deteriorating over time if it were willing to consider

events from more than sixty months ago.

REFERENCE

Rattray, N. A., True, G., Natividad, D. M., Salyers, M. P., Frankel, R. M., & Kukla, M. (2019). The long and

winding road to postsecondary education for US veterans with invisible injuries. Psychiatric rehabilitation

journal, 42(3), 284.
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