- Question
- What more do you want to know about this topic (veterans) in order to improve care for this population? Find and read two additional resources, at least one of which is scholarly, about this population and their mental health needs. Answer the following questions based on all three resources.
How is this research relevant to the veteran population?
How will this research influence your practice? What more do you want to know about this topic in order to improve care for veterans?
Write a two- to three- page (not including the reference page), double-spaced paper with a minimum of three references (scholarly and less the 5 years old), in APA format.
| Subject | Article Analysis | Pages | 6 | Style | APA |
|---|
Answer
Research Articles on Mental Health of Veterans
A veteran is an individual who has had long experience or service in a given occupation like the military field. In order to improve health care quality for the veteran population, there is so much one has to know and understand. Being a vulnerable group, it must be treated with care. This discusses the veteran population based on three different literature sources to help high noting the different concepts that I require much understanding on.
The article on US veterans and their unique issues: enhancing health care professional awareness by Olenick, Flowers, and Diaz (2015) provides an analysis of the main health concerns of the US veterans and the relevant strategies for addressing them. The article is relevant to the veteran population because it provides a comprehensive overview of veterans as a multifaceted population with a unique culture that entails but not limited to ethos, values, selfless duty, and implicit patterns of communication, customs, and obedience to command. Healthcare professionals have been called upon to keenly monitor the military history of patients since they are in a position to recognize suicide risk factors, regardless of the age bracket.
Medical technology advancement has enabled servicemen to survive different injuries, but for many, at the cost of mental scarring and associated limb amputation. The article by Olenick, Flowers, and Diaz (2015) will influence my practice because it provides relevant campaigns for the idea that healthcare professionals should be better placed to address such physical safety concerns, and also pass the attention to the veteran’s emotional health. It also brings to light the fact that almost 49,933 American veterans face the same issues as non-veterans like homelessness in addition to service-related concerns. Basing on the topic, I would like to understand issues relating to complex multiple deployments and separation from military service as a part of the specifically identified veteran issues that contribute to their mental instability.
The article confirms that successful veteran reintegration into civilian life majorly rests upon providing them with quality training that cultivates their military skills and knowledge, prevents homelessness, employment post-separation from service, and other mental health initiatives that promote civilian transition. In order to prepare health care providers towards meeting the complex health needs of an immense veteran population, training can be enhanced through the implementation of veteran content into normal healthcare curricula that entail veteran patient case studies and simulations and utilizes veteran clinical faculty.
The article further confirms that healthcare institutions should purpose to monitor mental health issues and behavioral adjustment disorders. As presented in the article, the medical records of veterans confirm that one in three patients is diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder. More than 40% were diagnosed with either a behavioral adjustment disorder or a mental health issue. In comparison with other military-related health diseases, several veterans end up developing substance use disorders (SUDs), and a large population ends up committing suicide. Olenick, Flowers, and Diaz’s (2015) findings are relevant and will influence my practice because it was found out that veterans are often diagnosed with the manic-depressive disorder, depression, alcohol-related health concerns, and heavy or binge drinking. Thus, it is significant to identify and treat mental health illness as it goes a long way to mitigate suicide risks. Reluctance to reach out for medication services makes diagnosing and mental illness among the population quite difficult.
The article mental health and medical health disparities in 5135 transgender veterans receiving healthcare in the Veterans Health Administration by Brown and Jones outlines that there are limited large controlled studies that cover studies on health disparities in gender dysphoric or transgender patients (Brown & Jones, 2016). Being the largest healthcare system within the United States, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) was an early adopter of electronic health records technological move. The article is important to the subject matter and relevant to the veterans because it assesses whether mental and medical health disparities exist in VHA, exclusively for the clinically diagnosed transgender (TG) veterans in comparison to the matched veterans lacking a clinical diagnosis consistent with TG status.
The study was the first to examine clinically diagnosed TG patients for psychiatric and medical health outcome disparities using retrospective, longitudinal medical chart data under a matched control group. Basing on its findings, I would like to understand why TG veterans are subjected to adverse global disparities in medical as well as psychiatric diagnoses as compared to matched non-TG veterans. The article is of significance and will influence my practice on the subject matter because the results have significant implications for healthcare screening, policy development, and service delivery in VHA and of importance, the healthcare systems at large.
The article access to mental health care among women veterans by Kimerling et al. (2015) seeks to assess whether or not VA meets the needs of mentally ill women in the veterinary field. Patient-centered access to reliable mental health defines the fit between system resources and the needs of patients. However, limited information is available to guide service implementation to women veterans. Ideologies have it that women are the underrepresented minority group within the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) health care.
The study established in this article is relevant to the veterans because it has promptly examined access to mental healthcare as an issue among women veterans (Kimerling et al., 2015). It examines gender-related indicators of perceived accessibility to mental health care. Generally, women VA user shows quality objective access to mental health services. However, their desire for, and ready access to more specialized mental health services for women vary across the populace. In order to improve practice, I would like to understand the broad aspects of shared decision making in treatment and referral planning for women under VA primary care.
In conclusion, veterans are people with a long time experience in a given occupation. It is important for all persons, including healthcare providers, to understand the diverse aspects affecting this group in order to improve health care access and quality. The above mentioned sources have provided relevant ideas regarding the health of the veterans by high noting different aspects that I need to properly conceptualize.
References
Brown, G. R., & Jones, K. T. (2016). Mental health and medical health disparities in 5135 transgender veterans receiving healthcare in the Veterans Health Administration: A case–control study. LGBT health, 3(2), 122-131.
Kimerling, R., Pavao, J., Greene, L., Karpenko, J., Rodriguez, A., Saweikis, M., & Washington, D. L. (2015). Access to mental health care among women veterans: Is VA meeting women’s needs? Medical Care, 53, S97-S104.
Olenick, M., Flowers, M., & Diaz, V. J. (2015). US veterans and their unique issues: enhancing health care professional awareness. Advances in medical education and practice, 6, 635.