Challenge
Women Veterans comprise eight percent of the rapidly growing population of Veterans, and this number is expected to increase as Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) enrollment continues to rise. U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) research has also determined that 81 percent of female enrollees are rural Veterans under the age of 65. In response to these findings, and in keeping with the VA commitment to provide all Veterans with the care they need, the VA Capitol Health Care Network undertook a comprehensive rural women Veterans health care initiative in 2010.
Solution
The Network partnered with Atlas Research to design and implement the program in the Network’s rural communities to promote the health, welfare, and dignity of rural women Veterans by ensuring access to timely, comprehensive, and quality health care.
The Atlas Team, in partnership with the Health Research & Educational Trust, conducted a baseline assessment and pinpointed barriers that prevent rural woman Veterans from accessing and better utilizing VA health care services. Among the barriers cited were geographical distance, financial limitations, lack of timely and convenient care, knowledge gaps and misinformation regarding VA services, misperceptions regarding the needs of rural women Veterans, trauma exposure, and the demands of childcare and caregiving responsibilities.
Result
The findings from the baseline were used to design an evidence-based rural outreach program to increase enrollment and utilization among rural women Veterans in the Capitol Health Care Network region. The Atlas Team identified professional groups to enhance rural outreach efforts; developed a competency-based training program for providers, administrators, and others involved in delivering care to rural women Veterans; developed performance metrics for outreach personnel; and designed health education programming for women Veterans.
Atlas played an integral role in creating a comprehensive and proactive outreach program that prioritizes rural women Veterans’ needs, preferences, and expectations for culturally competent and patient-centered care within the Network.