Welcome to the VALOR Program

The information we collect from you may be used in one of the following ways:

We use a secure server. All supplied sensitive information is transmitted via encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. Identification numbers are used instead of names. Data can only be accessed by authorized personnel with special access permissions. These personnel are required to keep the information confidential. They will not share your information with anyone, including supervisors, authorities, or medical systems.

To further help us protect participant privacy, we have obtained a Certificate of Confidentiality from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). With this certificate, we cannot be forced to disclose information that may identify participants in any federal, state, local, civil, criminal, legislative, administrative, or other proceeding. We will use the certificate to resist any demands for information that would identify a participant, except to prevent serious harm to the participant or others. A Certificate of Confidentiality does not prevent a participant from voluntarily releasing information about themselves or their involvement in the study. A Certificate of Confidentiality does not represent an endorsement of the study by the DHHS or the National Institutes of Health.

We do not use cookies.

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to third parties your personally identifiable information in accordance with Department of Defense regulations and the provisions of research protocol #NHRC.2009.0014. This includes supervisors, authorities, and medical systems.

Federal regulations give you certain rights related to your health information. These include the right to know who will have access to the information. If you choose to participate in this study, the study staff will obtain information that will identify you. You will be asked to respond to a web-based or telephone assessment about your general health, work, daily physical activities, and activities in the community. In addition, your service-related electronic medical and personnel records will be reviewed and linked to your responses. This information will be used only by study personnel and will be maintained for 10 years after completion of the study.

You may change your mind and revoke (take back) your permission to collect or use your health information at any time. To revoke your permission, you must write to the person in charge of the study (Michael Galarneau). When you revoke your permission, no new health information about you will be gathered after that date and you may no longer be allowed to participate in the study. Information that has already been gathered may still be used and there is no guarantee that it will be removed from the electronic database for this study. You also have the right to review and copy your health information for as long as copies of the assessments are maintained by contacting the person in charge of the study (Michael Galarneau).

Michael Galarneau is responsible for storing your health information and other information collected about you during the study. This information will be protected by keeping all paper copies of your information in a locked file at the Naval Health Research Center. Electronic data will be stored in secure password-protected files at Naval Health Research Center. Identification numbers are used instead of names. Access to all data will be limited to staff involved with this study, and will not be shared with supervisors, authorities, or medical systems. The health information that you disclose will not be used by or disclosed (released) to another institution.

The results of this study may be published in DoD technical reports, scientific journals, or presented at scientific meetings. No publication or presentation about the research study described above will reveal your identity without another authorization from you. Lastly, individuals from official government agencies, such as the Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy, may inspect your research records to ensure that the rights and safety of all research participants are protected. By signing the consent form, you are giving permission to use the health information listed above for the purposes described in the consent form. If you refuse to give permission, you will not be able to be in this study.

This study complies with the California Online Privacy Protection Act. We will not distribute your personal information to third parties without your consent.

As part of the California Online Privacy Protection Act, study staff can assist with updating personal information; please visit the Contact Us page for assistance.

This study complies with the requirements of COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act); we do not collect any information from anyone under 18 years of age. Our website, products and services are all directed to people who are at least 18 years of age or older.

• If our Privacy Policy changes, we will post those changes on this page, and update the Privacy Policy modification date below.
• This policy was last modified on 9 JAN 2018.
• Contact us if there are any questions regarding this Privacy Policy please contact us.

Welcome to the Veteran & Active Duty Longitudinal Outcomes Research (VALOR) Program website. This website is maintained by the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC) in San Diego for the purpose of conducting research for the public good. Note that no information or materials provided are intended to represent or constitute replacement therapies or guidance from professional healthcare providers. In addition, the contents of this site do not necessarily represent the official policy or position of the Department of the Navy, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. Thank you for your interest in and support of the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces. By using the site, you agree to these terms of use. Please read them carefully.

Please review our Privacy Policy, which also governs your use of our website, to understand our privacy practices.

When you visit our site or send emails to us, you are communicating with us electronically. You consent to receive communications from us electronically. We will communicate with you by e-mail or by posting notices on this site. You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.

All content on this site, such as text, graphics, user interfaces, visual interfaces, logos, button icons, and computer code on the site is the exclusive property of NHRC and may not be copied, reproduced, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, transmitted or distributed in any way or republished without the prior consent of NHRC.

As a participant you will be asked to sign in to the website to answer questions. You have responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality of your account by keeping secret your user name (i.e., study number) and access code, and by not leaving yourself logged in to the WWRP website while your computer is unattended.

This site may contain links to other independent third-party websites. These linked sites are provided solely as a convenience to our visitors. The VALOR Program is not responsible for and does not endorse the content of the linked sites, including any information or materials contained on the sites.

You may not use any automated or manual process, to access, acquire, copy or monitor any portion of the site or any content in any way, or circumvent the navigational structure of the site, to block any content, to obtain or attempt to obtain any materials, documents or information through any means not purposefully made available through the site. NHRC reserves the right to bar any such activity. You may not use the site or any content for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these Terms of Use, or to solicit the performance of any illegal activity or other activity which infringes upon the rights of the VALOR Program, NHRC, or others.

NHRC reserves the right to, at any time, modify, alter, suspend or remove the site in whole or in part. NHRC does not guarantee that the function of the site will be error-free or uninterrupted. Under no circumstances will NHRC be liable for any damages, liability or injury caused by errors or unexpected behaviors of the site, or by your inability to access the site in whole or in part.

You agree that all matters relating to your access to or use of the site, including all disputes, will be governed by the laws of the United States and by the laws of California.

Questions: If there are any questions regarding these Terms and Conditions, please contact us.