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Patterns of health care use amongst recently separated veterans and the role community plays
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Gaines, Shaina. Patterns of health care use amongst recently separated veterans and the role community plays. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-8x8y-4e08

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TitlePatterns of health care use amongst recently separated veterans and the role community plays
NameGaines, Shaina (author); Minnite, Lorraine (chair); Chevrier, Marie I (member); Mareschael, Patrice (member); Rutgers University; Graduate School - Camden
Date Created2022
Other Date2022-01 (degree)
SubjectPublic policy, Veterans -- Medical care
Extent243 pages
DescriptionThis research seeks to explain why U.S. veterans of the Global War on Terror might choose not to seek the Veterans Administration health care services they need and to which they are entitled. The recreation of a sense of community like the immersion into a unique and robust organizational culture service members experience while they are in the military plays an important role in successful reintegration into civilian life. The primary question guiding my research is: how does a measure of “community belonging” impact utilization among recently discharged service members eligible for and in need of the full range of health care services? I review Andersen’s behavioral model of health care utilization, a leading framework in the public health literature, and find it underspecified because it fails to account for the role of what I call “community belonging” in influencing whether veterans seek health care services. Anchored in a community development framework, this dissertation does not displace, but rather builds on and extends Andersen’s behavioral model to determine why recent veterans are underutilizing care, and to make policy recommendations. I deploy a qualitative research design. My analysis draws on veteran status questionnaires, focus groups and interviews conducted virtually during the summer of 2020. Information gleaned from these rich sources was analyzed using computer-assisted software and summative and directed content analysis.
This study shows an association between community belonging and health care utilization. I find that veterans experience three distinct types of stigma: stigma of being a veteran, stigma of accessing care, and the stigma of using VA care. Stigma affected the relationships recent veterans form, veterans’ utilization of care, and their perceptions of care quality. I identified that utilization of care did not always lead to receiving adequate care, due to misdiagnoses, long wait times, scheduling, gendered care, and providers not being available at the time of scheduled appointments. There are veterans who participated in the study who continued to use VA health care despite feeling that they were receiving inadequate care because they feel accepted, they feel as though they belonged amongst other veterans at the VA.
NotePh.D.
NoteIncludes bibliographical references
Genretheses
Persistent URLhttps://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-8x8y-4e08
LanguageEnglish
CollectionCamden Graduate School Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Organization NameRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
RightsThe author owns the copyright to this work.
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