Mental Healthcare Provisions for Veterans Living in U.S. Cities
Abstract
Fifty percent of all U.S. Veterans live in the ten most populated cities and use the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) to receive mental health care. The management and service delivery of the VHA has been documented and researched, with literature showing how the agency evolved to meet the demands for Veterans seeking comprehensive mental healthcare service. This study aims to determine how well are quality mental healthcare provisions being provided to Veterans living in U.S. cities, based on the demand for such services. In this context Veterans are defined as a person who has served in the Armed Forces and has transitioned from the military and currently living as a civilian. Mental healthcare provisions refer to any in or outpatient treatment for an individuals psychological and emotional well-being.To determine whether quality mental healthcare services are being provided to Veterans living in cities, mental health care policies and service delivery literature was examined, and interviews were conducted with Veterans advocates and social workers employed by Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals and mental healthcare clinics. These results identified the metrics used by the VHA to determine and measure ‘Quality Care’ and its utilization within the VA healthcare system. The results indicated that quality care is provided to city Veterans as well as having identified a population of Veterans ineligible to receive care from the VHA due to the agencies qualification requirements.
Subject Area
Urban planning|Political science|Social work|Mental health|Health care management
Recommended Citation
McDonald, Victoria L, "Mental Healthcare Provisions for Veterans Living in U.S. Cities" (2021). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI28496950.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI28496950
