title: Accessing VA Healthcare During Large-Scale Natural Disasters.
abstract: Natural disasters can lead to the closure of medical facilities including the Veterans Affairs (VA), thus impacting access to healthcare for U.S. military veteran VA users. We examined the characteristics of VA patients who reported having difficulty accessing care if their usual source of VA care was closed because of natural disasters. A total of 2,264 veteran VA users living in the U.S. northeast region participated in a 2015 cross-sectional representative survey. The study used VA administrative data in a complex stratified survey design with a multimode approach. A total of 36% of veteran VA users reported having difficulty accessing care elsewhere, negatively impacting the functionally impaired and lower income VA patients.
authors.affiliation: a Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC) , U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs , North Hills , California, USA.
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Der-Martirosian
authors.affiliation: b Altarum Institute , Ann Arbor , Michigan, USA.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pinnock
authors.affiliation: a Veterans Emergency Management Evaluation Center (VEMEC) , U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs , North Hills , California, USA.|c Department of Health Policy and Management , UCLA Fielding School of Public Health , Los Angeles , California, USA.|d UCLA School of Nursing , Los Angeles , California, USA.
authors.forename: Aram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dobalian
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Access to care; VA users; Veteran's Affairs; natural disasters; survey