The VA Is Hoping To Build Awareness And Trust Among Female Veterans

Speaker 1: 00:00 Last year 20,000 women transitioned out of the military yet compared to men, they're much less likely to get their medical care through the department of veterans affairs. So the agency has stepped up its efforts to convince female veterans, to give VA healthcare a chance. Jennifer Brooklyn reports for the American Homefront project, Speaker 2: 00:20 To understand who the VA was set up to serve. Look no further than the agency's motto to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan. When that model was adopted by the VA in 1959, women were capped at 2% of the enlisted force. Women veterans have historically even officially been an afterthought. So women like Tanisha, Tumblin a Marine stationed at camp Lajune have repaid the favor. When I think of this, I see wounded warriors and I see broken people and someone without a limb. When ms. Clinic never crossed my mind Tumblin is separating from the military this summer, after six years in the Corps, and like many other service women, she assumed VA healthcare would feel the same as the medical attention she received on active duty. That is to say, not exactly attuned to a woman's needs when it comes to medical treatment for women, they automatically assume, Oh, she's just saying she's hurting so that she can get out of this field off or this hike in. That's not the case at all. And another thing they assume that we're all pregnant. When she began her separation process, Tumblin never considered enrolling to get her healthcare through the VA. That's part of a longstanding trend. One. The VA is hoping to reverse with the women's health transition training program. Nancy Mara is the program senior manager. She says female veterans wait longer than men do to enroll in VA healthcare. And to just 25% are under enrolled in general. They think that the VA is only for men Speaker 1: 02:00 And they're just very unaware. Speaker 2: 02:02 All the health care services that the VA has for women. Marcy, is that under enrollment as a big problem for women whose health needs could fall through the cracks as they transition out of the military, the VA says women face greater health related challenges after military service compared to their male counterparts, including chronic pain, depression, and suicide. So to persuade women to enroll in VA healthcare, the program holds interactive seminars for troops who are about to leave the service. Welcome again to the women's health transition training. We're so happy to take a time out of your busy day to join us. Kelly Griffiths is a trainer with the program addressing online participants from Lackland air force base. We were in the military for a long time. We have our needs taken care of, but just know, as you transition out, the VA can be there for you. As you can see for a whole host of reasons. Griffin says the seminars are totally different from most military training. They're led by female veterans like her who use VA healthcare themselves, and Griffith says just having a training geared toward women a difference they're so happy when they leave, because there wasn't anything Speaker 1: 03:04 In the military that was ever women's specific. Speaker 2: 03:07 Maher says it's working women, who've taken the training are more likely to enroll in VA healthcare and to do so more quickly at Fort hood, Texas, Larry roadshow is retiring from the army. She says the training made her see the VA differently. We sit back and we listen to, you know, the horror stories about receiving medical care at the VA. And knowing that we have the option as women to seek all of our healthcare from the VA, when it comes to women's health was a huge release to me. Rosha says she plans on enrolling and Tumblin says the training gave her a change of heart too. Speaker 1: 03:41 I definitely need to recognize that the VA is not at all like Marine Corps medical and that they really are out there to help. And there are programs geared towards women. So no, I don't have that mindset about the VA anymore. Speaker 2: 04:00 As her time in the Marine Corps comes to an end, she'll be signing up for healthcare at her local VA I'm Jennifer Brooklyn reporting. Speaker 1: 04:07 This story was produced by the American Homefront project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans funding comes from the corporation for public broadcasting.