The Importance of the Veteran’s Voice: Three Veterans Recount Their Engagement with VA Research

Impact of discrimination and coping on Veterans’ willingness to seek treatment for physical and mental health problems.

“…They may be especially hesitant to seek treatment if they have experienced discrimination within the health care setting or if they have friends or family members who have experienced such discrimination (e.g., being treated differently when health care providers learn you are educated or being perceived as a "thug" based on how you dress for appointments; Progovac et al, 2020). Similar themes have emerged in qualitative work with Veterans (Chrystal et al, 2022;Maxwell et al, 2022), highlighting a need to understand the impact of discrimination on treatment-seeking behaviors in Veteran populations.…”