Notification Letter

Month, Date, Year

Dear Veteran,

We are writing to request your participation in a mail phone * survey as part of a study being conducted by the Boston VA Healthcare System. This study focuses on Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans’ experiences before, during, and after their deployment. We hope that the information we obtain from this study can be used to prepare future military personnel for the challenges of being deployed overseas, and help us understand how to assist veterans after their deployment.

Your name, address, and telephone number were provided by the Defense Manpower Data Center, which has a list of all persons who served in Afghanistan and Iraq. Your name was selected at random from this list.

The mail phone * survey consists of general questions about you, your experiences in the military, and your health. † This survey should take no more than approximately 50 minutes (60 minutes †) to complete. All of your responses will be kept strictly confidential. That means that all identifying information about you, like name and address, will be kept separate from your answers to the survey questions. Your identity will not be disclosed to anyone outside the research team.

The answers that you give us will be combined with those of approximately 750 other veterans who are participating in this study. We are interested in profiling the opinions of groups of veterans about their pre-deployment lives, their experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, how they felt about returning to the United States after the war, and how they see their general health today. † We will not be presenting information on any individual veteran; rather, we are interested in the responses of groups of veterans.

Your participation is completely voluntary. If you choose not to participate, simply complete and send the enclosed postcard, which withdraws you from the study. If you choose to take part in this study, we will offer you a small compensation of $30.00 for your time.

Although there are no direct benefits to you for participating in this project, your participation could provide valuable information that can be used to improve our knowledge of the deployment experiences that veterans have. We really appreciate your time and consideration. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to call me at (617) 232-9500 X45976.

Thank you again for your help.

Sincerely,

Dawne Vogt, PhD

Principal Investigator

*Please note: Italicized text followed by a * differentiates language to be used with either a mailed or telephone survey.

†Please note: Italicized text followed by a † will only be included in the second wave of the mailing.

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