Running head: GAP IN EQUITY
A Gap in Equity Related to Mental Health Access for Veterans
Milestone Two
Southern New Hampshire University
GAP IN EQUITY
A Gap in Equity Related to Mental Health Access for Veterans
The aftermath of war has left many veterans mental health issues that leave negative
effects such as homelessness and suicide. The response to this issue needs to be addressed
urgently as so many veterans are affected every day. The Veterans Affair (VA) has addressed this
challenge by hiring more than 6,000 new mental health workers since 2005 (Hester, 2017).
During President Barack Obama's term on August 31, 2012, he signed an Executive Order to
direct the VA to expand healthcare resources by encouraging collaboration arrangements with
nonprofit organizations to work with the VA (Hester, 2017). This would expand the availability
of health professionals by 2013 in their respective communities. Another important initiative to
prevent suicides was The Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act of 2015 also signed by
President Obama. It created per review support and community outreach pilot programs and
forms a program to repay loans debts for psychiatry students to incentivize them to work for the
VA Health System (Hester, 2017). The American Public Health Association (APHA) initiated a
policy in 2014 that addressed mental health services for veterans but specifically for those who
were honorably discharged or released. Their policies include suicide prevention, mental health
as an essential part of comprehensive health care programs, accountability in the provisions of
health and welfare services to persons with mental illness, and nondiscriminatory coverage of all
mental health treatment (American Public Health Association, 2014). They work on providing
mental health services to veterans in the military, navy, and air service.
The most important goal of these initiatives is the prevention of suicide in veterans and
increasing mental healthcare workers in the VA. The Suicide Prevention for Americans Veterans
Act addresses both of these goals. It also provides veterans with information about mental health
services and the opportunity for the VA Health System to collaborate with non-profit mental
GAP IN EQUITY
health organizations that are dedicated on suicide prevention. There are limitations to the VA's
initiatives. As stated by APHA, "top priority goes to veterans with 50% or more disability or
those who are unemployable as a result of their disability" (APHA, 2014). An important
initiative from the VA is improving their health personnel retention by reducing their burnout,
which can limit their capacity of being effective in caring for the vulnerable populations. The
staff must be effective to ensure a positive mental health outcome of veterans
These initiatives were developed by the disproportionately high rates of mental illness
and suicide rates among US veterans. The most recent wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, caused a
major impact that made the US Congress and the VA to develop policies that would address this
problem. APHA called for new policy proposals in 2014 since no existing policies specifically
addressed mental health services for veterans. The reform bill signed