A Snapshot in Time Capturing Student Veterans’ Well-being: A Photovoice Study

Student veterans report challenges regarding their transition into higher education and their overall experiences forming a new identity and role. Recent data has suggested student veterans are experiencing an increase in mental health challenges and suicide ideation. However, it is important to note that this is not a group of students who lack persistence, resilience, or have not known and experienced hardships. Thus, we found it necessary to qualitatively assess undergraduate student veterans’ well-being at a large institution, which has a high percentage of student veterans and military connected students. Our funded study utilized photovoice methodology, an innovative and creative qualitative approach, to explore the perceptions and experiences related to well-being. To our knowledge, only a few photovoice studies with student veterans are published, adding to the need to expand upon this approach. During the fall of 2022, our research team recruited 18 undergraduate student veterans to complete (a) a short survey evaluating well-being, (b) a study orientation, (c) photo taking in their natural environments for 2 weeks, and (d) an interview discussing their photos and meaning. Four research team members employed a rigorous thematic analysis approach using NVivo Software to uncover common themes related to well-being. We found themes on a spectrum, related to overall positive well-being, negative well-being, and mixed well-being. Within those themes we share relevant images, quotes, and connections across eight well-being domains: physical, emotional, financial, social, occupational, spiritual, intellectual, and environmental. Our study provides pertinent information to current campus and community stakeholders to better support the overall well-being of student veterans through outreach, programming, and support services. Importantly, research participants reported overall positive experiences engaging in photo taking and reflecting on the images, lending itself to further investigation of how photo taking and discussing the meaning could be potentially therapeutic in formal and informal helping situations involving military populations, specifically student veterans.