The Vietnam War Veterans Current Mental Health Status
By
Anabel Rotger
The aim of this paper is to explore the current mental health of the aging Veteran population that served during the Vietnam War. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2009 there were 9 million veterans in the United States age 65 and older (Ferrini & Ferrini, pg. 414). The Vietnam War Veterans are vivid proof of long-term negative consequences of combat exposure in different ways. After a long period of disservice and neglect, Congress acted and in 1983, passed a law that mandated an independent study of post-war psychological problems, therefore this action was indicative of a major situation that needed prompt and undivided attention (Public law 98-160).
For this …show more content…
After reviewing the literature used to write this paper, the NVVRS study was conducted to be able to provide the best possible care to the Vietnam War veterans and to serve their needs. However, after approximately 25 years there was a need of a follow-up study and that was the NVVLS study. Unfortunately, that last study was not successful because it was a follow-up study on the veterans from the previous study and by then some of them passed away already. Some others expired while the study was conducted. It is better said than done, but if the NVVLS study had been conducted with different methods it could have gotten better results. Furthermore, the discrepancy between the veterans that served in the Vietnam War and those that participated in the studies is enormous. It would be beneficial if Congress passes a new law to diagnose all Vietnam War veterans since there is evidence that there is a prevalence of lifetime PTSD and these elders receive the appropriate treatment that they should have gotten 40 years ago. The new study would not be conducted with telephone or mail surveys. Some of our Vietnam War Veterans do not have the skills, abilities, and patience to read and answer surveys or to talk on the phone with a clinical interviewer. The ideal method could be personal interview or face-to-face survey. The elder would feel more comfortable taking to a real human being, if the elder is hard of hearing, there would be the option to read body language and the experience would be less
By
Anabel Rotger
The aim of this paper is to explore the current mental health of the aging Veteran population that served during the Vietnam War. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2009 there were 9 million veterans in the United States age 65 and older (Ferrini & Ferrini, pg. 414). The Vietnam War Veterans are vivid proof of long-term negative consequences of combat exposure in different ways. After a long period of disservice and neglect, Congress acted and in 1983, passed a law that mandated an independent study of post-war psychological problems, therefore this action was indicative of a major situation that needed prompt and undivided attention (Public law 98-160).
For this …show more content…
After reviewing the literature used to write this paper, the NVVRS study was conducted to be able to provide the best possible care to the Vietnam War veterans and to serve their needs. However, after approximately 25 years there was a need of a follow-up study and that was the NVVLS study. Unfortunately, that last study was not successful because it was a follow-up study on the veterans from the previous study and by then some of them passed away already. Some others expired while the study was conducted. It is better said than done, but if the NVVLS study had been conducted with different methods it could have gotten better results. Furthermore, the discrepancy between the veterans that served in the Vietnam War and those that participated in the studies is enormous. It would be beneficial if Congress passes a new law to diagnose all Vietnam War veterans since there is evidence that there is a prevalence of lifetime PTSD and these elders receive the appropriate treatment that they should have gotten 40 years ago. The new study would not be conducted with telephone or mail surveys. Some of our Vietnam War Veterans do not have the skills, abilities, and patience to read and answer surveys or to talk on the phone with a clinical interviewer. The ideal method could be personal interview or face-to-face survey. The elder would feel more comfortable taking to a real human being, if the elder is hard of hearing, there would be the option to read body language and the experience would be less