While browsing the internet this past week, I found a
picture captioned “Remember the female veterans”. This was not a strange request, but it was
the picture that truly captured my attention.
In the picture, these beautiful and strong women were all amputees. Whether it was a single leg, arm, or both all
of the women had been injured in some way.
That is what shocked me so. I
have no recollection of seeing women veterans and their permanent
injuries. Looking at female veterans
would be an interesting topic of study.
But this is international health and the comparison of veteran health
between countries is also fascinating.
It appears one of the biggest challenges faced by
veterans returning from deployment is reintegration into the community. The World Health Organization (WHO) has an
assessment titled International Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health (ICF). According to Resnik et
al., the 2007 ICF was performed to assess to difficulties of Operation Enduring
Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) veterans reintegrating into
their communities. Veterans and
caregivers alike were interviewed on the problems they face. Open-ended questions were asked so the two
groups could express what their most important challenges were. In this study, decision making was difficult for
veterans with polytrauma. It was often
the case that the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) victims second guess
themselves. They also could feel
overwhelmed by making these decisions or not feel confident in their decision
making abilities. The veterans were also
questioned on their abilities to perform everyday tasks. Difficulties included getting distracted and working
in the proper order of tasks. I believe
future research will need to be done on veterans’ health. A more in depth comparison between different
countries’ veterans would not go remiss.
Until this study is done, remember United States veterans on November 11th
for Veteran’s Day. Australia, Canada,
and Great Britain also have remembrance days on or near this date. While not everyone may agree on governments’
military spending and other factors, veterans are still the brave and patriotic
people protecting us. They are also the
ones to put their health at risk to perform their duties.
Resnik, Linda J, PhD,P.T., O.C.S., & Allen, S. M., PhD. (2007).
Using international classification of functioning, disability and health to
understand challenges in community reintegration of injured veterans. Journal
of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 44(7), 991-1006. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.lib.purdue.edu/docview/215285969?accountid=13360
Erin,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing up this topic. Veterans truly are brave and courageous. But that bravery often comes at a cost - including PTSD, trauma, and physical injuries. I never really thought about female veterans... I feel like whenever you see pictures or ads or commercials you see male veterans. I think that because male veterans are a lot more prevalent, it puts female veteran health at a discordance. A lot more research and studies should be looked at in this area. Overall, I think the mental health stigma surrounding veterans in particular is decreasing and becoming more acceptable, which is awesome. What kind of needs do female veteran face in comparison to male veterans? What about family life or reproductive issues? This really is an interesting subject population. Thanks Erin!