Special Services for Women in Substance Use Disorders Treatment: How Does the Department of Veterans Affairs Compare with Other Providers?
BACKGROUND
Gender is an important consideration in the treatment of substance use disorders (SUD). Although the number of women seeking care through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has increased dramatically, little is known about the capacity of the VA to meet the needs of women with SUD. We examined the prevalence of programs and key services for women in VA facilities in a survey of 14,311 SUD treatment facilities.


METHODS
Using data from the 2012 National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services, we calculated the percent of VA facilities offering special programs or groups exclusively for women, compared with facilities under other types of ownership. For each ownership type, we also calculated the mean number of ancillary services offered that are critical for many women in SUD treatment, including child care, domestic violence counseling, and transportation assistance. Multivariable models were used to adjust for differences in other facility characteristics.


RESULTS
Approximately 31% of facilities had special programs exclusively for women. The VA had the lowest prevalence of programs for women, at 19.1%; however, the VA offered an average of 5 key services for women, which was significantly higher than the averages for other federal (n = 2), local (n = 4), and private for-profit (n = 2) facilities. Results were generally robust to multivariable adjustments.


CONCLUSIONS
The VA should consider developing more SUD programs and groups exclusively for women, while maintaining ancillary services at their relatively abundant level. Gender-specific programs and groups could serve as points of referral to ancillary services for women veterans.
Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, Maryland. Electronic address: kevin.heslin@ahrq.hhs.gov.
Kevin C
KC
Heslin
Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center, North Hills, California.
Alicia
A
Gable
Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center, North Hills, California.
Aram
A
Dobalian
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*; D016387:Women's Health