A Student-Driven Applied Analysis of Medical Anthropology
Anthropology Summer Ethnographic Field School 2011
WGVU Studio, Grand Valley State University
June 22, 2011

 Learn and use anthropological methods
 Assess healthcare status of veterans in West Michigan
 Intervention to improve veterans health & well-being
 Share findings with concerned parties

 22.7 million veterans in US, over 700, 000 in MI
 Veterans not well represented in healthcare literature
 Veterans may not be receiving adequate healthcare
 Veterans’ healthcare status needs assessment

 Veterans rate of suicide is twice as high compared to the general population
 20% of returning veterans have PTSD or major depression
 12.7% of the U.S. population are veterans, yet 23% of the homeless population are veterans

 Michigan ranks 11 th in veteran population
 MI spends the least per capita on veterans of any state
 Only 7% of veterans are females

 The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA)
 Over 800 primary care clinics
 The largest healthcare service in the U.S. for veterans
 About 30% of veterans use the VA
 In MI, around 17% of veterans use the VA

 Veterans were contacted using convenience sampling
 Students were sent in groups to interview these veterans
 Video and Audio recorded
 Ethnographic reports
 Questionnaires
 Life histories, participant observation and
 Focus group discussions

 5 groups of students conducted interviews
 53 veterans were interviewed over a 5 week period of time
 Each interview lasted from 30 to 120 minutes
 Each group kept a field diary and wrote an ethnographic report
 These findings were compiled into a final report

Most veterans do not use VA healthcare
 Unaware of available benefits
 Don’t feel deserving of benefits if healthy
 Difficulty with paperwork and policies
 Inefficiency in receiving benefits
 Lack of contact with VA post-service

Those who have utilized VA services are often dissatisfied with their experience
 Disparities in quality of facilities across Michigan
 West Michigan facilities outdated and unable to meet demand
 Inconvenient VA hospital and clinic locations
 Lack of continuity with primary healthcare provider
 Presence of foreign-born medical professionals within VA facilities may limit communication

According to the study, veterans that saw combat had significantly higher divorce rates and lower marriage rates than veterans that did not see combat.

N=98
According to this study, the youngest group of veterans, aged 44 or below, are having a harder transitioning home than older veterans did.

According to the study, the youngest veterans had a higher rate of having health problems then the older veterans.

According to this study, veterans that use VA benefits had a higher rate of dissatisfaction with their jobs than veterans that do not use VA benefits.

• Gaining a greater appreciation of veterans
• Becoming personally invested in veteran well-being
• Overcoming the obstacles of participant observations

 Continue flexible and adaptive GI Bill
 Improve advertisement according to region’s needs
 Encourage doctors to work with VA
 Provide adequate debriefing for returning veterans

 Include marriage and family counseling benefits
 Make VFW and American Legion posts more attractive
 Increase community and employment support

 Marital counseling for combat veterans is needed.
 Thorough debriefing for veterans coming home
 Needs a comprehensive follow-up
 Mental health awareness should be improved.
 Consistent PTSD screening
 All veterans need to be acknowledged and appreciated for their service and their sacrifices.

 Encouraged to learn more about veterans
 Gained an increased respect for veterans
 The military shapes the lives of veterans
 Most veterans take pride in their time in the military
 Their healthcare can be inadequate for their specific needs

 The Field School like to show its gratitude to the following:
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Veterans
Goodwill organization
Grand Rapids Home for Veterans: Tiffany Carr
WGVU: Timothy Eernisse
CLAS Dean: Frederick Antczak
Human Research Protection Committee - HRPC
Center for Scholarly Creative Excellence - CSCE
Dean of Students Office: Steven Lipnicki
Director of Institutional Analysis: Phillip Batty
Voiceover: John Howard
Department of Anthropology