AGING VETERANS AND LONG-TERM OUTCOMES OF MILITARY SERVICE: A PANEL DISCUSSION

摘要

Military service was a normative part of early adult life for today’s older United States population. The number of veterans aged 65 and older in the U.S. in 2015 was 9.3 million, and that number is projected to rise as veterans of the Vietnam War continue to age. Despite the lived experience and substantial number of older veterans, the details of their experience in later life are not well understood and military service remains a “hidden variable” within aging research. This session will take the form of a panel discussion moderated by Stephanie Ureña and features Drs. Avron Spiro, Janet Wilmoth, Andrew London, Carolyn Aldwin, Scott Landes, and Richard Settersten. The panel of distinguished scholars on aging veterans will provide an overview of the extant research on military service and its accompanying data challenges, with the goal of addressing what longer lives mean for veterans and developing new research agendas. The discussion will focus on the role of the VA in research based on 30 years of experience (Spiro); women’s direct and indirect ties to the military (Wilmoth); health and well-being (London); resilience and combat (Aldwin); mortality (Landes); longitudinal data, and implications for policy and practice (Settersten). Join us and engage in a lively discussion on our aging veterans.