| VA TO STUDY
VIETNAM-ERA WOMEN VETERANS
Comprehensive study of women veterans
who served in the military during the Vietnam War will explore the
effects of their military service on their mental and physical
health.
NOTE from Larry Scott, VA
Watchdog dot Org ... The following comes from a
VA press release.
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Secretary Shinseki
Announces Study of Vietnam-Era Women Veterans
Comprehensive Study Will Help VA Provide High-Quality Care
WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki
announced the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is launching a
comprehensive
 study
of women Veterans who served in the military during the Vietnam
War to explore the effects of their military service upon their
mental and physical health.
“One of my top priorities is to meet the needs of women Veterans,”
said Secretary Shinseki. “Our Veterans have earned the very best
care. VA realizes that women Veterans require specialized
programs, and this study will help VA provide high-quality care
for women Veterans of the Vietnam era.”
The study, which begins in November and lasts more than four
years, will contact approximately 10,000 women in a mailed survey,
telephone interview and a review of their medical records.
As women Vietnam Veterans approach their mid-sixties, it is
important to understand the impact of wartime deployment on health
and mental outcomes nearly 40 years later. The study will assess
the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other
mental and physical health conditions for women Vietnam Veterans,
and explore the relationship between PTSD and other conditions.
VA will study women Vietnam Veterans who may have had direct
exposure to traumatic events, and for the first time, study those
who served in facilities near Vietnam. These women may have had
similar, but less direct exposures. Both women Veterans who
receive their health care from VA and those who receive health
care from other providers will be contacted to determine the
prevalence of a variety of health conditions.
About 250,000 women Veterans served in the military during the
Vietnam War and about 7,000 were in or near Vietnam. Those who
were in Vietnam, those who served elsewhere in Southeast Asia and
those who served in the United States are potential study
participants.
The study represents to date the most comprehensive examination of
a group of women Vietnam Veterans, and will be used to shape
future
 research
on women Veterans in future wars. Such an understanding will lay
the groundwork for planning and providing appropriate services for
women Veterans, as well as for the aging Veteran population today.
Women Veterans are one of the fastest growing segments of the
Veteran population. There are approximately 1.8 million women
Veterans among the nation’s total of 23 million living Veterans.
Women comprise 7.8 percent of the total Veteran population and
nearly 5.5 percent of all Veterans who use VA health care
services. VA estimates women Veterans will constitute 10.5 percent
of the Veteran population by 2020 and 9.5 percent of all VA
patients.
In recent years, VA has undertaken a number of initiatives to
create or enhance services for women Veterans, including the
implementation of comprehensive primary care throughout the
nation, staffing every VA medical center with a women Veterans
program manager, supporting a multifaceted research program on
women's health, improving communication and outreach to women
Veterans, and continuing the operation of organizations like the
Center for Women Veterans and the Women Veterans Health Strategic
Healthcare Group.
The study, to be managed by VA’s Cooperative Studies Program, is
projected to cost $5.6 million.
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TOPICS:
veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs,
Vietnam, women |
