Our goals, vision and purpose

Who is the service for?

The service is for members of the armed forces community (AFC) living in Dorset (including Bournemouth and Poole).

How do I access it?

Individuals from the AFC can contact the team directly using the details at the bottom of this page or via referral from a health, social care or third sector team. Services wishing to make a referral should also use these contact details.

What does it do?

The Armed Forces Community Health and Wellbeing Team (AFCT) will provide a service to ensure members of the AFC are supported to access services that provide health and social care support AFCT makes use of a number of services in a co -ordinated way providing a single point of access for the AFC

The team also takes factors such as housing, welfare and employment issues into consideration as part of our initial meeting and, when appropriate, will liaise with local organisations to ensure that members of the AFC receive timely and appropriate support.

The armed forces community

The armed forces community is defined, for the purposes of the Armed Forces Covenant, as including all those towards whom the nation has a moral obligation due to service in HM Armed Forces. The community includes the following.

Regular personnel

Individuals currently serving as members of the Naval Service, Royal Navy and Royal Marines, Army or Royal Air Force.

Reservists

Volunteer reservists, who form the Royal Naval, Royal Marine, Territorial Army and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, and regular reservists, who comprise the Royal Fleet Reserve, Army Reserve and Royal Air Force Reserve.

Veterans

Those who have served in the HM Armed Forces, whether as a regular or as a reservist.

Families of regular, reservists and veterans

The immediate family of those in the categories listed above. This is defined as spouses, civil partners, and children for whom they are responsible, but can (where appropriate) extend to parents, unmarried partners and other family members.

Bereaved

The immediate family of service personnel and veterans who have died, whether or not that death has any connection with service.

The wellbeing gateway

We will offer an initial meeting with each veteran, family member or carer to establish the kind of help that would be most appropriate for each case.

The wellbeing group

We will offer a wellbeing course to help veterans and families to develop better awareness and ways to help individuals to stay well and live fulfilling lives. We also hope that in time you will want to become a peer to peer specialist.

Workforce development

We are working with our staff to ensure our workforce is aware of military culture, its structure, experiences, and issues that present difficulties to the community such as PTSD, alcohol misuse, and concerns about accessing services.