There are approximately 19.6 million military veterans in the United States as of 2018. White veterans make up the largest racial demographic at 14.8 million, while 2.5 million are African American and 1.4 million are Hispanic/Latino. In terms of age, 2.8 million veterans are over 80 years old. Male veterans significantly outnumber female veterans at 17.7 million and 1.9 million respectively. One in three veterans suffers from at least one mental health disorder, increasing their risk of substance abuse and suicide. Compared to non-veterans, veterans have higher rates of post-secondary education but less access to mental healthcare.
There are approximately 19.6 million military veterans in the United States as of 2018. White veterans make up the largest racial demographic at 14.8 million, while 2.5 million are African American and 1.4 million are Hispanic/Latino. In terms of age, 2.8 million veterans are over 80 years old. Male veterans significantly outnumber female veterans at 17.7 million and 1.9 million respectively. One in three veterans suffers from at least one mental health disorder, increasing their risk of substance abuse and suicide. Compared to non-veterans, veterans have higher rates of post-secondary education but less access to mental healthcare.
There are approximately 19.6 million military veterans in the United States as of 2018. White veterans make up the largest racial demographic at 14.8 million, while 2.5 million are African American and 1.4 million are Hispanic/Latino. In terms of age, 2.8 million veterans are over 80 years old. Male veterans significantly outnumber female veterans at 17.7 million and 1.9 million respectively. One in three veterans suffers from at least one mental health disorder, increasing their risk of substance abuse and suicide. Compared to non-veterans, veterans have higher rates of post-secondary education but less access to mental healthcare.
Karli Basakos, Chloe Heenan, Lauren Sitler, Whitney Zito April 16, 2019 Definition: Military Veterans
Under Federal Law, Military Veterans are a population of
people that served in the active military, naval, or air service of the United States and that were discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable (U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs [VA], 2015). Demographics of Military Veterans
As of September 2018, there are about 19,600,000 U.S.
military veterans. (VA, 2018). Demographics: Race of Military Veterans
✘ Almost 14.8 million of the total veterans are white alone,
not Hispanic or Latino ✘ 2.5 million military veterans are African American ✘ 1.4 million are Hispanic/Latino (VA, 2018) Demographics: Age of Military Veterans
✘ 2.8 million are 80 years old
and older ✘ 4.3 million are 70-80 years old ✘ 3.8 million are 60-70 years old ✘ 3.1 million are 50-60 years old ✘ About 1 million are in their late 30s (VA, 2018) Demographics: Gender of Military Veterans
As of September 2018, there are 1.9 million female military
veterans and almost 17.7 million male military veterans (VA, 2018). Social Determinants of Health: Education
Overall, veterans tend to have a higher or comparable rate of college education compared to non-veterans (VA, 2017). Social Determinants of Health: Economic Stability
There are less
veterans in poverty compared to non- veterans. (VA, 2017). Health Disparity of Military Veterans ✘ 1 in 3 veterans (or 41%) are diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder ○ Leads to development of substance use disorder (SUD) ○ Mental health disorders in combination with SUDs significantly increase the risk of suicide ○ Every day, 22 veterans commit suicide (Olenick, Flowers & Diaz, 2015) ✘ Comparison to non-veterans ○ 1 in 5 non-veteran are diagnosed with at least one mental health disorder ( or 18.5%) (National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2019) Health Care Disparity of Military Veterans ✘ Lack of access to mental health services leads to high suicide rates ○ Only ⅓ of veterans are using VA Health System ○ Lack of crisis intervention services ○ Mental health coverage not included in health insurance policies (Hester, 2017) Nursing Intervention for Military Veterans ✘ Screening ✘ Primary care mental health health screenings by nurses should be the standard ✘ Lack of mental health care for veterans is a public health issue as well as a patient safety issue – nurses are on the front line in regards to ensuring mental wellbeing is addressed at every wellness check ✘ Early identification and treatment will lead the way in reducing veteran suicide rates (Harrigan, 2018) References Brenner, L. A., Hoisington, A. J., Stearns-Yoder, K. A., Stamper, C. E., Heinze, J. D., Postolache, T. T., Hadidi, D. A., Hoffmire, C. A., Stanislawski, M. A., Lowry, C. A. (2018). Military-related exposures, social determinants of health, and dysbiosis: The United States-Veteran Microbiome Project (US-VMP). Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology, 8(400), 1-9. doi:10.3389/fcimb.2018.00400 Hestwe, R. D. (2017). Lack of access to mental health services contributing to the high suicide rates among veterans. International Journal of Mental Health Systems, 11(47), 1-4. doi:10.1186/s13033-017-0154-2 National Alliance on Mental Illness. (2019). Mental health by the numbers. Retrieved from https://nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-By-the-Numbers Olenick, M., Flowers, M., Diaz, V. (2015) US veterans and their unique issues: Enhancing healthcare professional awareness. Advances in Medical Education and Practice, 6, 635-639. doi:10.2147/AMEP.S89479 U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). (2018). Veteran population. Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/vetdata/veteran_population.asp U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). (2017). Profile of veterans [PDF document]. Retrieved from https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/Profile_of_Veterans_2017.pdf U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). (2015) Chapter 6: Determining veteran status and eligibility for benefits [Word document]. Retrieved from https://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/docs/admin21/m21_1/.../M21-1III_ii_6.docx