Food For Thought - Veterans Day Edition

Well despite implications made by my last post, I actually have been very busy at school. My latest academic conquest has been a research paper for my Racism and Racial Identity class. Students were charged with exploring any topic that relates to racism and the concepts we're covering in class.

My program encourages students to find ways of relating research assignments back to possible professional goals and interests. Right now one of the career paths I'm considering after school is work with veteran populations—possibly as a therapist in the VA. So I decided to explore racism in mental healthcare for veterans. The full title of my paper is:

Racial Disparities in Access to Mental Health Services Among U.S. Veterans

Here's a little excerpt:

What become apparent are two faces of the same beast—two equal contributors to the racial inequity in access to mental health services among veterans. There is arguably a systematic flaw in the design of VA healthcare. The service connection method in no way addresses the socioeconomic differences that are entangled with racial and ethnic differences. Non-White veterans receive less care, and because they tend to be poorer they are more negatively affected by lack of service. Yet systematic problems aside, the presence of widespread individual bias is clear, too. Clinicians treat White veterans and non-Whites differently in diagnosis and treatment, almost always to the detriment of minority populations.

Through this research I got to learn about some of the flaws in the VA, and I also got to see the many ways in which the VA exceeds and outperforms other mental healthcare providers. The bottom line, though, is that there is a disturbing pattern of neglect towards veterans of all races and ethnicities, and especially towards veterans of color.

Right now over 130,000 veterans are homeless. In this year, a quarter million veterans will have experienced homelessness at some point in time. Many, many of these individuals suffer from untreated mental illnesses that prevent them from taking care of themselves. And veterans of color represent the poorest, most neglected men and women in this population.

As Veterans Day passes by I think we can all explore ways of caring for the ones that keep us safe. Honestly, I can't think of words to fully describe my gratitude towards these servicemen and servicewomen, so I won't try.

If you're interested, you can read my complete paper.

Also, consider donating to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

And I promise, my next blog post will be a little more lighthearted!