Veterans for Common Sense vs. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Mental Health Services: Opinion of a Federal Judge in California

Veterans for Common Sense vs. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Mental Health Services: Opinion of a Federal Judge in California PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437986072
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Veterans for Common Sense vs. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Mental Health Services: Opinion of a Federal Judge in California

Veterans for Common Sense vs. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) on Mental Health Services: Opinion of a Federal Judge in California PDF Author:
Publisher: DIANE Publishing
ISBN: 1437986072
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 104

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Book Description


Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services

Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309466601
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 467

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Book Description
Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental healthâ€"related outcomesâ€"in particular, suicideâ€"at a higher rate than the general population. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.

Review of Combat Stress in Women Veterans Receiving VA Health Care and Disability Benefits

Review of Combat Stress in Women Veterans Receiving VA Health Care and Disability Benefits PDF Author: United States. Department of Veterans Affairs. Office of Inspector General
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Combat
Languages : en
Pages : 81

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Book Description
Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General conducted a review to assess the Department's capacity to address combat stress in women veterans. It assessed women veterans use of VA health care for traumatic brain injury (TBI), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other mental health conditions, and whether the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) properly adjudicated women veterans' disability claims for these conditions. It also assessed whether VBA developed and disseminated military sexual trauma (MST) training and reference materials and policies to claims processors and the feasibility of requiring MST training and testing as part of VBA's claims processor certification. The results show that, with variations in degree, female veterans generally were more likely to use VA health care. They were also more likely to continue using VA health care services, even years after separating from active military service, and to use it more frequently. VA generally diagnosed higher proportions of female veterans with mental health conditions after separation, but lower proportions were diagnosed with the specific mental health condition of PTSD and with TBI. These patterns corroborated our findings from data analyses and from review of claims files that higher proportions of female veterans generally were awarded disability for mental health conditions other than PTSD, and a higher proportion of men were generally awarded disability for PTSD and TBI. Data analyses of the study population indicated that VBA denied females more often for PTSD, and denied male veterans more often for a mental health condition other than PTSD, although the denial rates for male and female veterans for all mental health conditions were almost the same. The study did not find any evidence that claims processors applied VBA's current policies and procedures differently when evaluating male and female veterans' disability claims.

Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services

Evaluation of the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (U.S.). Committee To Evaluate the Department of Veterans Affairs Mental Health Services
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780309466585
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 439

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Book Description
Introduction -- The Veterans Health Administration -- The Veterans Health Administration's Mental Health Services -- Clinical management of mental health conditions at the Veterans Health Administration -- Methodology -- Department of Veteran's Affairs mental health services: need, usage, and access and barriers to care -- Dimensions of quality in mental health care -- Mental health workforce and facilities infrastructure -- Timely access to mental health care -- Patient-centered care and the veteran experience -- Effective mental health care -- Efficient mental health care -- Equitable mental health care -- Health technology for mental health care -- Quality management -- Findings, conclusions, and recommendations -- Appendices. Supporting the documentation for the survey -- Supporting documentation for the site visits: questionnaires and NVivo codes.

Veterans Health Administration

Veterans Health Administration PDF Author: United States. Department of Veterans Affairs. Office of Audits & Evaluations
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Veterans
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
The Veterans Health Administration does not have a reliable and accurate method of determining whether they are providing patients timely access to mental health care services. VHA did not provide first-time patients with timely mental health evaluations and existing patients often waited more than 14 days past their desired date of care for their treatment appointment. As a result, performance measures used to report patient's access to mental health care do not depict the true picture of a patient's waiting time to see a mental health provider. Although no measure of access is perfect or paints a complete picture in isolation, meaningful analysis and decision making requires reliable data, on not only the timeliness of access but also on trends in demand for mental health services, treatments, and providers; the availability and mix of mental health staffing; provider productivity; and treatment capacity. A series of timeliness and treatment engagement measures might provide decision makers with a more comprehensive view of the ability with which new patients can access mental health treatment.

The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study

The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study PDF Author: Richard A. Kulka
Publisher: Brunner/Mazel Publisher
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1044

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Book Description


Review of Veterans' Access to Mental Health Care

Review of Veterans' Access to Mental Health Care PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Book Description
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this review at the request of the Chairman and Ranking Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans; Affairs, the Secretary of Veterans; Affairs, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the U.S. House Veterans' Affairs Committee and the Chairwoman and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Health, House Committee on Veterans; Affairs, after they expressed concerns that veterans may not be able to access the mental health care they need in a timely manner. The request asked the OIG to determine how accurately the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) records wait times for mental health services for both initial (new patients) and follow-up (established patients) visits and if the wait time data VA collects is an accurate depiction of the veteran's ability to access those services.

Permanent Supportive Housing

Permanent Supportive Housing PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309477077
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 227

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Book Description
Chronic homelessness is a highly complex social problem of national importance. The problem has elicited a variety of societal and public policy responses over the years, concomitant with fluctuations in the economy and changes in the demographics of and attitudes toward poor and disenfranchised citizens. In recent decades, federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and the philanthropic community have worked hard to develop and implement programs to solve the challenges of homelessness, and progress has been made. However, much more remains to be done. Importantly, the results of various efforts, and especially the efforts to reduce homelessness among veterans in recent years, have shown that the problem of homelessness can be successfully addressed. Although a number of programs have been developed to meet the needs of persons experiencing homelessness, this report focuses on one particular type of intervention: permanent supportive housing (PSH). Permanent Supportive Housing focuses on the impact of PSH on health care outcomes and its cost-effectiveness. The report also addresses policy and program barriers that affect the ability to bring the PSH and other housing models to scale to address housing and health care needs.

Families Caring for an Aging America

Families Caring for an Aging America PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309448093
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
Family caregiving affects millions of Americans every day, in all walks of life. At least 17.7 million individuals in the United States are caregivers of an older adult with a health or functional limitation. The nation's family caregivers provide the lion's share of long-term care for our older adult population. They are also central to older adults' access to and receipt of health care and community-based social services. Yet the need to recognize and support caregivers is among the least appreciated challenges facing the aging U.S. population. Families Caring for an Aging America examines the prevalence and nature of family caregiving of older adults and the available evidence on the effectiveness of programs, supports, and other interventions designed to support family caregivers. This report also assesses and recommends policies to address the needs of family caregivers and to minimize the barriers that they encounter in trying to meet the needs of older adults.

Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic

Pain Management and the Opioid Epidemic PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309459575
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 483

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Book Description
Drug overdose, driven largely by overdose related to the use of opioids, is now the leading cause of unintentional injury death in the United States. The ongoing opioid crisis lies at the intersection of two public health challenges: reducing the burden of suffering from pain and containing the rising toll of the harms that can arise from the use of opioid medications. Chronic pain and opioid use disorder both represent complex human conditions affecting millions of Americans and causing untold disability and loss of function. In the context of the growing opioid problem, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched an Opioids Action Plan in early 2016. As part of this plan, the FDA asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to convene a committee to update the state of the science on pain research, care, and education and to identify actions the FDA and others can take to respond to the opioid epidemic, with a particular focus on informing FDA's development of a formal method for incorporating individual and societal considerations into its risk-benefit framework for opioid approval and monitoring.