Advancing Veteran Health Equity

With support from the Johnson & Johnson’s Our Race to Health Equity, Syracuse University’s D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) launched a research effort to gather insights on racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare access, quality of care and patient experiences, and health outcomes among veterans. This initiative is designed to address the critical gaps in our understanding of access to care and patient experiences across various care settings to promote health equity among veteran communities.

Key Insights from Veterans of Color

This effort represents one of the only studies that have collected information regarding barriers to care and patient experiences using a mixed-methods approach from a racially diverse sample of veterans who use systems of care outside of the VA. Findings below are based on data from 219 veteran survey respondents and 17 focus group participants that identified as veterans of color.

1

Barriers to Care

2

Patient Experiences

3

Culturally Competent Care

Key Insight 1: Barriers to Care

Barriers to accessing care, including lack of timely appointments, limited providers, distance to care, and high administrative burden, are perceived as widespread challenges and may result in veterans delaying care or experiencing gaps in treatment.

  • Veterans of color who participated in the interviews described their difficulties accessing timely care as a “systemic” problem related to VA resource constraints, rather than attributing barriers to care to their race or racism.
  • 1 in 5 Veterans of Color considered access to VA health care services as a top factor in deciding where to live after their military service, but 15% indicated that they live too far from the nearest VA as the top reason for not receiving their care from the VA.
Veterans of Color Respondents
Limited Providers Available
23%
Not taken seriously
15%
Experienced discrimination
9%
Non-Hispanic White Respondents
Limited Providers Available
18%
Not taken seriously
13%
Experienced discrimination
12%

Key Insight 2: Patient Experiences

Veterans consider a range of factors when evaluating the quality of their patient experiences and healthcare.

  • Veteran of color interviewees noted clear communication, timely appointments, and access to Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) as attributes of their positive healthcare interactions.
  • Veteran of color interviewees cited difficulty obtaining timely appointments, dismissive providers, rude administrative staff, record sharing constraints, complex referral practices, and insistence on prescribing pharmaceutical interventions as characteristics of poor healthcare interactions.
0 %

of veteran of color survey respondents agree that their VA provider gives them the necessary resources and/or information to understand and manage their health.

Key Insight 3: Culturally Competent Care

Veterans of color survey respondents reported they do not receive culturally competent care from their providers.
0 %
Veterans of color believe their health concerns are not listened to or taken seriously.
0 %
Veterans of color believe their providers do not understand the unique health needs veterans have.
0 %
  • Factors for consideration in delivering culturally competent care vary situationally, by individual, and may or may not include race as a salient or dominant factor for consideration.
  • Veterans of color, especially women, have implemented strategies that confront veteran, racial, and gender stereotypes. Veterans of color who participated in the interviews described changing their voice, adjusting their physical appearance, and being overly apologetic or polite during interactions with their medical providers or their staff.
  • Some veterans of color who participated in interviews explained that they intentionally seek care from providers with prior military service experience or experience working with military and veteran communities or those with underrepresented identities or from historically underserved communities (e.g., racial/ethnic or gender minorities) to feel more understood by their providers.

Recommendations to Advance Health Equity for Veterans

1

Improve access to care

2

Enhance cultural competency

3

Support veteran agency

4

Conduct further research

Below: The front of the tiles provides real challenges shared by veterans. You can hover over the tiles to see the suggested solutions aimed at advancing veteran health equity.

"There aren’t many providers in my area, so I have to drive a couple of hours to go to the nearest VA."

Expand telehealth availability and reduce barriers to accessing community providers by providing timely reimbursement and clarify rules regarding prior authorization, so that more local providers may be willing to participate in the Veteran Community Care Program.

"After sharing my history of experiencing MST with my provider, I felt so dismissed and retraumatized, I waited more than a year to seek care again."

Recruit and retain healthcare professionals from diverse gender and racial/ethnic backgrounds to improve patient-provider gender and racial/ethnic concordance, which is linked to higher patient satisfaction and better health outcomes.

"I have experienced language and communication barriers in health settings."

Increase funding for language translators in communities with high density of non-English language speakers and encourage medical professionals to use non-verbal communication cues such as eye contact, facial expressions, and tone to help bridge communication gaps.

"I don’t always feel comfortable sharing that I am a veteran because I feel like civilian doctors don’t know how to treat me and other veterans."

Mandate comprehensive cultural competence training for all VA employees that regularly interact with veterans (e.g., providers, nurses, social workers, medical receptionists) and community care providers participating in the Veterans Community Care Program.

"I know of several veterans who don’t use email, so they are not receiving VA newsletters."

Screen patients for home Internet access and connect patients without Internet to services like Digital Divide Consults. Provide resources to support patients wishing to develop their digital and health literacy skills.

"I am Native American and my culture values wholistic interventions and a more natural approach to medicine, but I feel like my providers don’t understand that. I really don’t want more pills."

Expand funding for CAM and non-pharmacological treatment options. Invest in research to evaluate the effectiveness of CAM and other emerging treatment options. Provide training to providers on culture-related preferences for non-pharmacological treatment options.

Learn More About Veteran Health Equity

Full Report

Research Overview