Women Veterans are among the fastest growing groups of new VA health care users of the VA healthcare system, and currently reflect approximately eight percent of all U.S. Veterans. With Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), women comprise a larger percentage of the military (11.3 percent) than of prior military operations. As of fiscal year 2010, 51.3 percent of female OEF/OIF Veterans had enrolled in VA health care, in sharp contrast to women from previous eras (an estimated 11 percent). Of this group, 88 percent have used VA health care more than once. To better understand the needs of this rapidly growing group, women Veterans' health research has expanded as well. Two previous systematic reviews examined the literature on women Veterans' health and health care up to 2008. In this review, we specifically explored women Veterans' post-deployment health, with two main areas of concentration: 1) post-deployment effects on reproductive health for women Veterans, and 2) post-trauma sequelae among women Veterans from the OEF/OIF cohort. In response to a growing need to understand the effects of military service on health status, this report supplements our prior review by focusing directly on the reproductive and trauma effects on women in the military or Veterans who have been deployed. The goal is to broaden the knowledge of VA policy leaders and clinicians about post-deployment health issues for women. The Key Questions were: Key Question #1: What research has been published on the effects of deployment on postdeployment reproductive outcomes? We operationalized “reproductive effects” to encompass the following: fertility issues, birth defects, menstrual effects (e.g., change in cycles, loss of cycles), urinary tract infections, sexually transmitted infections, and reproductive cancers (e.g., cervical, ovarian, etc). Key Question #2: What research has been published on post-trauma sequelae in OEF/OIF women Veterans, including: mental health problems, suicide, cardiovascular disease, risky health behaviors (including: tobacco use, hazardous alcohol use, substance abuse, suicide, homicide, assaultive behavior, and eating disorders), and other post-trauma sequelae?

Women Veterans are among the fastest growing groups of new VA health care users of the VA healthcare system, and currently reflect approximately eight percent of all U.S. Veterans. With Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF), women comprise a larger percentage of the military (11.3 percent) than of prior military operations. As of fiscal year 2010, 51.3 percent of female OEF/OIF Veterans had enrolled in VA health care, in sharp contrast to women from previous eras (an estimated 11 percent). Of this group, 88 percent have used VA health care more than once. To better understand the needs of this rapidly growing group, women Veterans' health research has expanded as well. Two previous systematic reviews examined the literature on women Veterans' health and health care up to 2008. In this review, we specifically explored women Veterans' post-deployment health, with two main areas of concentration: 1) post-deployment effects on reproductive health for women Veterans, and 2) post-trauma sequelae among women Veterans from the OEF/OIF cohort. The published literature on deployment and post-deployment health was included in the two previous systematic literature reviews. Most of the extant literature focused on the population of Veterans from OEF/OIF. The previous review also examined the reproductive health literature among military women and women Veterans. However, the previous reviews assessed the literature up through 2008, while the current review further updates these topics by examining them in more detail and extending the literature search through 2010.

Approximately 4 million U.S. service members took part in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shortly after troops started returning from their deployments, some active-duty service members and veterans began experiencing mental health problems. Given the stressors associated with war, it is not surprising that some service members developed such mental health conditions as posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and substance use disorder. Subsequent epidemiologic studies conducted on military and veteran populations that served in the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq provided scientific evidence that those who fought were in fact being diagnosed with mental illnesses and experiencing mental healthâ€"related outcomesâ€"in particular, suicideâ€"at a higher rate than the general population. This report provides a comprehensive assessment of the quality, capacity, and access to mental health care services for veterans who served in the Armed Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation New Dawn. It includes an analysis of not only the quality and capacity of mental health care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, but also barriers faced by patients in utilizing those services.

In the very first text of its kind, Women at War brings together all available information and experience on women's physical and mental health in one resource to enlighten the practitioners caring for them. Our U.S Department of Defense is approximately 15% women with over 300,000 women having deployed since September 11th, 2001. This book reviews the epidemiology, changes in policy and demographics of women in the services, the factors affecting their health and health care while serving in austere environments, issues related to reproductive and urogenital health and how health care providers can help prepare and prevent illness. The book also looks at mental health issues to include PTSD and other psychological effects of war, intimate partner violence, sexual assault and suicide, as well as the veteran experience. The book brings together researchers, clinicians, and service member experience and presents the information in a practical, actionable format. It also highlights areas where data is lacking and more study is demanded.

The challenges facing military veterans who return to civilian life in the United States are persistent and well documented. But for all the political outcry and attempts to improve military members' readjustments, veterans of all service eras face formidable obstacles related to mental health, substance abuse, employment, and — most damningly — homelessness. Homelessness Among U.S. Veterans synthesizes the new glut of research on veteran homelessness — geographic trends, root causes, effective and ineffective interventions to mitigate it — in a format that provides a needed reference as this public health fight continues to be fought. Codifying the data and research from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) campaign to end veteran homelessness, psychologist Jack Tsai links disparate lines of research to produce an advanced and elegant resource on a defining social issue of our time.

Nearly 1.9 million U.S. troops have been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq since October 2001. Many service members and veterans face serious challenges in readjusting to normal life after returning home. This initial book presents findings on the most critical challenges, and lays out the blueprint for the second phase of the study to determine how best to meet the needs of returning troops and their families.