Review and Evaluation of the VA Enrollee Health Care Projection Model
Review and Evaluation of the VA Enrollee Health Care Projection Model

Author: Katherine M. Harris

Publisher: RAND Corporation

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 122

ISBN-13:

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The Veterans Health Care Eligibility Reform Act of 1996 significantly expanded the mission of the VA. The reform act vastly increased the types of services offered to VA patients and extended medical coverage to all veterans through a priority-based enrollment system. The VA now operates the largest integrated health care system in the United State. In 2007, the VA had 78 million enrollees, served 5.5 million patients, and had a total operating budget of 37.3 billion.

Combating Tobacco Use in Military and Veteran Populations
Combating Tobacco Use in Military and Veteran Populations

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2009-10-21

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 0309146844

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The health and economic costs of tobacco use in military and veteran populations are high. In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) requested that the Institute of Medicine (IOM) make recommendations on how to reduce tobacco initiation and encourage cessation in both military and veteran populations. In its 2009 report, Combating Tobacco in Military and Veteran Populations, the authoring committee concludes that to prevent tobacco initiation and encourage cessation, both DoD and VA should implement comprehensive tobacco-control programs.

Fields of Combat
Fields of Combat

Author: Erin P. Finley

Publisher: ILR Press

Published: 2011-04-07

Total Pages: 238

ISBN-13: 0801460700

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For many of the 1.6 million U.S. service members who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, the trip home is only the beginning of a longer journey. Many undergo an awkward period of readjustment to civilian life after long deployments. Some veterans may find themselves drinking too much, unable to sleep or waking from unspeakable dreams, lashing out at friends and loved ones. Over time, some will struggle so profoundly that they eventually are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress Disorder (PTSD). Both heartbreaking and hopeful, Fields of Combat tells the story of how American veterans and their families navigate the return home. Following a group of veterans and their their personal stories of war, trauma, and recovery, Erin P. Finley illustrates the devastating impact PTSD can have on veterans and their families. Finley sensitively explores issues of substance abuse, failed relationships, domestic violence, and even suicide and also challenges popular ideas of PTSD as incurable and permanently debilitating. Drawing on rich, often searing ethnographic material, Finley examines the cultural, political, and historical influences that shape individual experiences of PTSD and how its sufferers are perceived by the military, medical personnel, and society at large. Despite widespread media coverage and public controversy over the military's response to wounded and traumatized service members, debate continues over how best to provide treatment and compensation for service-related disabilities. Meanwhile, new and highly effective treatments are revolutionizing how the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) provides trauma care, redefining the way PTSD itself is understood in the process. Carefully and compassionately untangling each of these conflicts, Fields of Combat reveals the very real implications they have for veterans living with PTSD and offers recommendations to improve how we care for this vulnerable but resilient population.

Veterans in the United States
Veterans in the United States

Author: Shana Hertz Hattis

Publisher: Bernan Press

Published: 2015-11-10

Total Pages: 243

ISBN-13: 1598887785

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Veterans in the United States: Statistics and Resources presents the most pertinent and compelling statistics in one easy-to-follow, useful, and informative volume. Data related to veterans is scattered between federal departments. This volume’s mission is to present the most pertinent and compelling statistics in one easy-to-follow, useful, and informative volume. Each part is preceded by highlights of salient data along with figures. The tables contain a wide range of information including educational attainment, employment status, period of military service, and much more. Notes and definitions along with a reference guide for veterans and those who work to support them are provided at the end of the book. Part 1 includes veteran status by age, race/ethnicity, period of service, and more. It looks at veterans living in poverty, educational attainment of veterans, and breakdowns of major topics by urban and rural areas and by state. When available and when not prohibitive in length, the 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year estimates are provided for all tables. Part 2 uses data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to investigate veterans in the labor force. The employment-population ratio, the unemployment rate, and employment by period of service and demographic characteristics are examined in these tables. Part 3 represents the information collected by the Department of Veterans Affairs itself. This information covers a wide-ranging set of issues, including interments, veteran-related expenditures, projected population in the armed forces through September 2043, number of living veterans in each state, veterans employed in the federal government, and disability ratings and compensation.

Communities in Action
Communities in Action

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2017-04-27

Total Pages: 583

ISBN-13: 0309452961

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In the United States, some populations suffer from far greater disparities in health than others. Those disparities are caused not only by fundamental differences in health status across segments of the population, but also because of inequities in factors that impact health status, so-called determinants of health. Only part of an individual's health status depends on his or her behavior and choice; community-wide problems like poverty, unemployment, poor education, inadequate housing, poor public transportation, interpersonal violence, and decaying neighborhoods also contribute to health inequities, as well as the historic and ongoing interplay of structures, policies, and norms that shape lives. When these factors are not optimal in a community, it does not mean they are intractable: such inequities can be mitigated by social policies that can shape health in powerful ways. Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity seeks to delineate the causes of and the solutions to health inequities in the United States. This report focuses on what communities can do to promote health equity, what actions are needed by the many and varied stakeholders that are part of communities or support them, as well as the root causes and structural barriers that need to be overcome.