Post-incarcerated veterans' perspectives on health and care during reentry

An interest-holder engaged qualitative study

Bibliographic Data

ID19491814
AuthorsSteven L Arxer (0000-0003-2444-7352, The University of Texas at Arlington, corresponding author), James P Lepage (0000-0003-4061-0121, VA North Texas Health Care System), Jason Flake (0000-0001-9380-4080, VA North Texas Health Care System), April Crawford (0009-0002-3245-1685, VA North Texas Health Care System), Dina Hooshyar (0000-0001-9773-1528, United States Department of Homeland Security), Haekyung Jeon-Slaughter (VA North Texas Health Care System), Haekyung Jeon‐Slaughter (0000-0002-5753-2935), Michel Philippe (0000-0002-4582-8990, The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center), Michel A Philippe
Year2026
Volume10
Pages100796
Publication date2026-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSSM - Qualitative Research in Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2667-3215 • E-ISSN: 2667-3215
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.ssmqr.2026.100796
OpenAlexW7164890251
LanguageEN
References cited56

Veterans returning from incarceration face housing insecurity, employment barriers, stigma, and complex health needs. How veterans interpret these challenges and what sustains continued health engagement under these conditions has received less attention. This interest-holder engaged qualitative study draws on in-depth interviews with 54 post-incarcerated veterans to examine how veterans navigate encounters with institutions, peers, and themselves during early reentry. Four dimensions of health engagement emerged through which veterans' ongoing negotiation between military and carceral identity operated: whether veterans saw care as worthwhile, whether they advocated for clinical care through earned standing, whether service-connected trauma shaped their sense of deserving mental health care, and whether incarceration stigma and veteran belonging shaped trust with VA providers. These dimensions shaped engagement with substance use recovery, pain management, oral health, mental health treatment, and clinical participation. When encounters communicated recognition and patience, engagement was sustained. When encounters communicated indifference, the space for continued pursuit narrowed and the effort required to persist increased. The interpretive space between formal eligibility and continued pursuit of care is a site where health inequity is produced and contested. These findings carry implications for encounter design, peer support programming, and flexibility in how progress is defined in reentry services

Action (physics) · Agency (philosophy) · Focus group · Health care · Perspective (graphical) · Qualitative research · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Education and Military Integration · Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research