Challenge
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has received attention from a number of entities (e.g., Congress, the media, advocacy groups) about its perceived lack of attention and insensitivity to the issue of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) among men, particularly in terms of (being perceived to have) inadequate/insufficient services for men. VA’s MST Support Team wanted to design a campaign or product that would address these perceptions and convey VA’s concern about the issue of MST among men, highlight the availability of services for men, and convey VA’s sensitivity to the unique needs of male survivors.
Solution
Atlas Research worked with the MST Support Team to achieve its objectives of helping male Veterans who experienced MST see VA as a source of help and conveying to public stakeholders that VA cares about this issue and has quality services available.
The Atlas Team completed an in-depth series of key informant interviews and an extensive literature review that were used to inform an awareness and outreach campaign related to MST among men. The qualitative research and analysis in this instance gave us rich insight, which we used to inform our planning efforts and creative development around this particularly delicate topic. Project deliverables included creation of a research report, outreach strategy, messaging framework, toolkit of outreach materials, and an infographic.
Result
Through the development of an outreach strategy and supporting materials, Atlas assisted the MST Support Team in its efforts to generate awareness about the existence of MST among men and VA’s quality treatment services available to men who have experienced MST.