Help shape better support: Take the 2026 Military & Veteran Spouse Wellness Survey
VA News ·
Your story matters. Use it to help military and Veteran spouses and partners: Share your experience in the 2026 Military & Veteran Spouse Wellness Survey
A decade ago, I was struggling through one of the most difficult periods of my life.
I was in love with a Veteran who is now my husband. He was living with post-traumatic stress disorder, wasn’t receiving treatment and wasn’t letting me into parts of what he was carrying. I knew he was hurting. I was hurting, too.
The people in my life cared deeply about me, but they didn’t understand what I was experiencing. As a graduate student studying social work, I remember asking professors, mentors and classmates where I could find support from people who understood what it meant to love and support a Veteran facing these challenges.
No one had an answer.
When I started looking on my own, I ran into another problem: I didn’t see myself in the research. I didn’t see myself in the programs.
We weren’t married. I hadn’t been with my partner during his military service. Most of what I found didn’t seem designed for someone like me. Whether anyone intended it or not, the message I internalized was clear: You don’t belong here.
Today, as program director of the Veteran Spouse Network, I know many military and Veteran spouses and partners still feel that way.
That’s one reason the Military & Veteran Spouse Wellness Survey matters so much.
Conducted by the Institute for Military and Veteran Family Wellness at the University of Texas at Austin, in partnership with InDependent , the survey explores wellness across multiple dimensions of life to better understand the experiences, strengths, challenges and needs of military and Veteran spouses and partners.
The first survey gathered responses from more than 1,100 military and Veteran spouses and partners nationwide.
What we learned became a roadmap. The findings highlighted challenges related to emotional wellness, physical wellness and social connection. They also reaffirmed something we see every day at the Veteran Spouse Network: Connection matters.
The data validated our focus on peer support while also showing us where we needed to do more.
When physical wellness emerged as an area of concern, we expanded wellness-focused programming through partnerships with organizations such as Warrior Strong. When spouses shared the challenges of supporting loved ones living with invisible wounds, we launched our “Life & Love with PTSD” support group and later expanded to include support groups focused on traumatic brain injury and moral injury.
In other words, spouses shared their experiences and we listened. That’s exactly what we hope to continue doing through this year’s survey.
One of the most important lessons we’ve learned is that there is no single military or Veteran spouse experience.
A spouse who lived through multiple deployments may have very different experiences and needs than someone who married a Veteran years after military service ended. National Guard and Reserve spouses often navigate military-connected life differently than active-duty families. Male spouses, foreign-born spouses and many other groups may have experiences that are rarely reflected in existing research.
Yet we often group everyone together under the same label. When certain voices are missing, our understanding is incomplete.
That’s why we’re especially hoping to hear from National Guard and Reserve spouses, male spouses, foreign-born spouses, and other populations whose experiences are too often overlooked.
The goal of this survey isn’t simply to publish another report.
It’s to build a better understanding of military and Veteran spouse wellness that can inform programs, research, funding decisions and policy for years to come.
Most importantly, it’s about listening.
I often think about how different my own journey might have been if someone had told me years ago that my experience mattered—that I belonged.
That’s what this survey represents: an opportunity for spouses and partners to ensure their experiences are counted, understood and reflected in the conversation.
We can’t build effective support systems based on assumptions. We have to start by listening.
If you are a current or former spouse or partner of an active-duty service member, National Guard member, reservist or Veteran, I hope you’ll consider sharing your experience.
Every response helps us better understand this community and build more responsive support systems for those who come after us.
Take the Military & Veteran Spouse Wellness Survey.