Accessibility and acceptability of the Department of Veteran Affairs health care: diverse veterans' perspectives.
OBJECTIVE
Diverse veteran's perspectives on the accessibility and acceptability of the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) health services are presented.


METHODS
The qualitative methodology uses 16 focus groups (N = 178) stratified by war cohort (World War II and Korean Conflict versus Vietnam War and Persian Gulf War) and four ethnic/racial categories (African American, Asian American, European American, Hispanic American).


RESULTS
Five themes emerged regarding veterans' health care expectations: (1) better information regarding available services, (2) sense of deserved benefits, (3) concern about welfare stigma, (4) importance of physician attentiveness, and (5) staff respect for patients as veterans. Although veterans' ethnic/racial backgrounds differentiated their military experiences, it was the informants' veteran identity that framed what they expected of VA health services.


CONCLUSIONS
Accessibility and acceptability of VA health care is related to veterans' perspectives of the nature of their entitlement to service. Provider education and customer service strategies should consider the identified factors to increase access to VA as well as improve veterans' acceptance of the care.
Damron-Rodriguez
JoAnn
J
Veteran Administration Greater Los Angeles Health Care System, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656, USA.
White-Kazemipour
Whitney
W
Washington
Donna
D
Villa
Valentine M
VM
Dhanani
Shawkat
S
Harada
Nancy D
ND
D000368:Aged; D017144:Focus Groups; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine / Q000592:standards*; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011287:Prejudice; D012946:Social Welfare / Q000208:ethnology; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000592:standards*; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D014857:Warfare