Improving Healthcare Access and Utilization Among Student Veterans Through Supported Education: A Case Series

Abstract

Compared to their civilian counterparts, Veterans have higher rates of mental health difficulties but are less likely to utilize health services. Since 2009, more than 1.4 million Veterans, service members, and their families have used the Post 9/11 GI Bill to fund their education, suggesting that college campuses are potential environments to reach Veterans with unmet health care needs. The Veterans Integration to Academic Leadership-Supported Education (VITAL-SEd) program was developed using psychiatric rehabilitation principles to provide in-person access to academic interventions, mental health programming, and access to additional services for unmet needs. The cases of three student Veterans are reported to demonstrate the implementation process and impact of VITAL-SEd in facilitating healthcare access and utilization among student Veterans. An outline of the VITAL-SEd model utilized is offered, and analyses of these three cases provided reveal the following practical implication themes: (1) responding to expressed educational needs helped build rapport and trust, thereby facilitating identification of unmet healthcare needs, (2) promoting Veteran choice and self-direction can shift student Veterans from a deficit to empowerment model of their own academic role, (3) using an integrated-health care lens within the context of SEd can help Veterans obtain both academic and health-management skills. Overall, results provide preliminary evidence of the usefulness and feasibility of the VITAL-SEd model.