Article Text

Download PDFPDF
Personalising veteran healthcare: recognising barriers to access for minority and under-represented groups of veterans
  1. Gavin M Campbell1,
  2. MP Perry2,
  3. J Milford2 and
  4. D Murphy1,3
  1. 1 Centre for Applied Military Health Research, Combat Stress, Leatherhead, UK
  2. 2 Op COURAGE North of England, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, Sunderland, UK
  3. 3 King's Centre for Military Health Research, King's College London, London, UK
  1. Correspondence to Gavin M Campbell; gavin.campbell{at}combatstress.org.uk

Abstract

Veterans are not a demographically homogenous group, yet minority groups continue to be under-represented in research and report feeling less able to access clinical services to seek support. While veteran-specific healthcare has responded to the needs of the majority, the success of veteran mental health services is contingent on serving the whole veteran population. Key to the personalisation of healthcare is the question of access and a need to address specific inequalities and barriers to help-seeking behaviour. In this paper, we explore the issues of access to veteran healthcare at three levels: those barriers common to all veterans; those common to all minority groups of veterans; and those relevant to specific minority groups of veterans. Stigma, military attitudes and culture (eg, stoicism), and access to services and professionals with veteran-specific knowledge are universal barriers across veteran groups. Minority groups report a heightening of these barriers, alongside being ‘othered’ in veteran care settings, a lack of representation of them or their experiences in service descriptions and advertising, a lack of professional cultural competencies on specific issue, and the veteran environment potentially being retraumatising. Finally, barriers specific to individual groups are discussed. Attending to these is essential in developing holistic approaches to personalised healthcare that meets the needs of all veterans.

  • organisational development
  • mental health
  • organisation of health services

Statistics from Altmetric.com

Request Permissions

If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

Footnotes

  • X @gavinmcampbell

  • Contributors All authors contributed to the writing and revision of the manuscript. DM is the guarantor.

  • Funding The study was supported by Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (n/a).

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.