State’s Vets Have Mental Health Issues

California's veterans need mental health services at a lower rate than the rest of the state's population, but the vast majority are not receiving them or are getting inadequate care.

That's the conclusion of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, which studied the kind of services more than 90,000 of the state's veterans received between 2011 and 2013. The study included not only those veterans receiving services from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs – who tend to have more severe physical and mental health issues, but those outside of the VA system, the latter of which comprise about 60% of the statewide total.

“Much of the data that exists is not representative of the total population of veterans,” said Linda Diem Tran, the study's lead author. “Our study is one of the few to make estimates based on all the veterans in California, and it finds that the stereotype that veterans have more mental health needs than everyone else may not be true.”

The study was not completely comprehensive – women veterans were excluded because they appeared in the raw data in relatively small numbers. Officials said they would have to be included in future investigations. 

Nevertheless, the findings are fairly sobering. Although 3.5% of the state's veterans need mental health services compared to 3.9% of California's population as a whole, 76% of those in need are either receiving care that falls short (46% of the total) or no care at all. The standard for what is considered appropriate care is four or more visits with a professional during a calendar year, and appropriate use of prescription medication.

A significantly large proportion of the state's veterans had seriously contemplated suicide: 9.1% of the total. That compares to 5.6% of the non-veteran population.

From a demographic point of view, white veterans predominated the need for mental healthcare services: A total of three out of five. But 20% of those requiring services are Latino, even though they make up fewer than 15% of California's total veterans.

Veterans requiring mental health services tend to have some form of physical disability (80%); 25% lived at or below the federal poverty level; and 80% had less than a bachelor's degree.

However, veterans are receiving mental health services more consistently than other Californians. Nearly 69% said they had visited with a professional for mental health services, versus only about half of non-veterans. 

The study recommended that mental health services to veterans be expanded. Moreover, it also recommended that mental health screenings be included in basic primary care services, taking advantage of the fact that 88% of the veterans see a primary care physician on a regular basis.