Veterans choose to give for research

More than half of a group of Veterans who were offered money to participate in a VA research study chose to donate the money to a Veteran Service Organization (VSO) instead. 

Among Veterans who reported having a financial strain, one third still chose to donate.

“On the 100^th anniversary of VA research, this unanticipated finding felt particularly poignant,” wrote study authors Dr. Donna Zulman of the VA Center for Innovation to Implementation in Palo Alto, California, and Dr. Matthew Maciejewski of the Durham Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation at the Durham VA Health Care System in North Carolina. “The generosity of study participants reflects an ethos of service that is common among Veterans, rooted in their military experience, and inspiring to all those who work in the VA system.”

The researchers conducted a survey with a national sample of more than 3,000 Veterans. Veterans were offered a $10 incentive to participate—a common research practice to boost study numbers—and were given the option of donating the money to an organization that supports Veterans.

The findings demonstrate Veterans’ commitment to serving others who have served, said the researchers. Veterans also reported they are motivated to participate in research, Veteran engagement groups and other activities that contribute to the benefit of Veterans and their communities.

This study’s findings highlight the value of offering a donation option to encourage research participation, said the study’s authors.

“Just as the scientific advances achieved through Veterans’ engagement in research benefit the broader population, the actions of Veterans in this study might inspire VA and non-VA researchers to offer donation as an incentive in future studies,” concluded the researchers.

The study results appeared in the journal “JAMA Network Open.”