Women Veterans' Perspectives on How to Make Veterans Affairs Healthcare Settings More Welcoming to Women
Autor: | Elizabeth M. Yano, Rachel E Golden, Susan M. Frayne, Ruth Klap, Ann S Combs, Jessica L. Moreau, Diane V. Carney, Alison B. Hamilton, Karen E. Dyer |
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Rok vydání: | 2019 |
Předmět: |
Adult
Male medicine.medical_specialty Health (social science) Constant comparison Hospitals Veterans media_common.quotation_subject MEDLINE 050109 social psychology Health Services Accessibility 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Maternity and Midwifery Health care Medicine Humans 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Women 030212 general & internal medicine Praise Veterans Affairs health care economics and organizations media_common Veterans business.industry 05 social sciences Public Health Environmental and Occupational Health Obstetrics and Gynecology Patient Acceptance of Health Care humanities United States United States Department of Veterans Affairs Feeling Family medicine Health Care Surveys Healthcare settings Harassment Female business Delivery of Health Care |
Zdroj: | Women's health issues : official publication of the Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. 30(4) |
ISSN: | 1878-4321 |
Popis: | Purpose Women veterans are a rapidly increasing subset of the Veterans Affairs (VA) patient population but remain a numerical minority. Men veteran-dominated health care settings pose unique considerations for providing care to women veterans in a comfortable and welcoming environment. We analyzed patient suggestions on how to make the VA more welcoming to women. Methods We surveyed a convenience sample of women veteran patients who visited 1 of 26 VA locations in August and September of 2017. Women veterans were invited to complete brief anonymous questionnaires that included questions about harassment experiences and feeling welcome at the VA, and an open-ended question about suggestions to make the VA more welcoming to women. We analyzed data from the open-ended question using the constant comparison method. Results Among respondents (N = 1,303), 85% felt welcome at the VA. Overall, 29% answered the open-ended prompt for a total of 490 distinct responses: 260 comments and 230 suggestions. Comments included praise for the VA (67%) and stories about feeling uncomfortable or harassed in the VA (26%). Suggestions included those related to VA staff (31%), the environment of care (18%), additional resources for women veterans (18%), clinical services for women veterans (15%), changing men veterans’ behavior toward women veterans at the VA (5%), and making the treatment of women and men the same (5%). Conclusions Although most women veterans felt welcome in the VA, patient-centered suggestions offer opportunities for making the VA more welcoming to women. Soliciting patient suggestions and increasing awareness of how feeling welcome is experienced by patients are first steps to health care settings becoming more inclusive. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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