Women Veterans' Perspectives on How to Make Veterans Affairs Healthcare Settings More Welcoming to Women |
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| Institution: | 1. VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System at Sepulveda, North Hills, California;2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California;3. VA HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California;4. Program Evaluation Resource Center (PERC), VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Palo Alto, California;5. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California;6. UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy & Management, Los Angeles, California;1. VA Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation, and Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California;2. Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, California;3. Department of Medicine, Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, Los Angeles, California;4. RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California;1. Center for Health Information and Communication, Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Health Services Research and Development Service CIN 13-416, Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, Indiana;2. Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation & Policy, Health Services Research and Development Service CIN 13-417, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, North Hills, California;3. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana;4. Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California;1. VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California;2. Department of Sociology, Prevention Innovations Research Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire;3. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California;4. Department of Health Policy and Management, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California;1. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;2. Departments of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington;3. Center for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care, VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington;4. Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, VA Pittsburgh Health Care System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;5. Center for Research on Health Care, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania;1. Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP), Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania;2. VA Central Western Massachusetts Healthcare System, Leeds, Massachusetts;3. Quantitative Health Sciences & Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts;1. VA Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation & Policy, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, California;2. University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, Division of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences-Semel Institute, Los Angeles, California;3. University of Montana, Department of Psychology, Missoula, Montana;4. VA HSR&D Northwest Center for Outcomes Research in Older Adults, VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, & Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), Seattle, Washington;5. University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Seattle, Washington;6. Washington State University Vancouver, Department of Human Development, Vancouver, Washington;7. Department of Psychology, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan;8. Center for Clinical Management Research, Health Services Research and Development Service, VA Ann Arbor Health Care System, Ann Arbor, Michigan;9. Center for Clinical Management Research (CCMR), VA Ann Arbor Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan;10. University of Michigan Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Ann Arbor, Michigan;11. University of California, Los Angeles School of Public Health, Department of Health Services, Los Angeles, California;12. University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, Los Angeles, California;13. RAND Health Program, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California |
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| Abstract: | PurposeWomen veterans are a rapidly increasing subset of the Veterans Affairs (VA) patient population but remain a numerical minority. Men veteran-dominated health care settings pose unique considerations for providing care to women veterans in a comfortable and welcoming environment. We analyzed patient suggestions on how to make the VA more welcoming to women.MethodsWe surveyed a convenience sample of women veteran patients who visited 1 of 26 VA locations in August and September of 2017. Women veterans were invited to complete brief anonymous questionnaires that included questions about harassment experiences and feeling welcome at the VA, and an open-ended question about suggestions to make the VA more welcoming to women. We analyzed data from the open-ended question using the constant comparison method.ResultsAmong respondents (N = 1,303), 85% felt welcome at the VA. Overall, 29% answered the open-ended prompt for a total of 490 distinct responses: 260 comments and 230 suggestions. Comments included praise for the VA (67%) and stories about feeling uncomfortable or harassed in the VA (26%). Suggestions included those related to VA staff (31%), the environment of care (18%), additional resources for women veterans (18%), clinical services for women veterans (15%), changing men veterans’ behavior toward women veterans at the VA (5%), and making the treatment of women and men the same (5%).ConclusionsAlthough most women veterans felt welcome in the VA, patient-centered suggestions offer opportunities for making the VA more welcoming to women. Soliciting patient suggestions and increasing awareness of how feeling welcome is experienced by patients are first steps to health care settings becoming more inclusive. |
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