Women's Health Provider Perspectives on Reproductive Services Provision in the Veterans Health Administration. 2023

Lori M Gawron, and Jeanette Young, and Serena Yang, and Patrick Galyean, and Lisa S Callegari, and Alexandra Gero, and Rebecca G Simmons, and Morgan M Millar, and Susan L Zickmund

Women veterans are a fast-growing population in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and ensuring reproductive service availability is a VHA priority. As such, we sought to explore barriers and facilitators to VHA reproductive service provision across a catchment area from women's health providers' perspectives. We performed a mixed-methods study, including semistructured, qualitative provider interviews with a quantitative survey on training, comfort, and knowledge of reproductive services. All women's health providers and their support staff from the Salt Lake City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and nine VHA community-based outpatient clinics were asked to participate. We conducted qualitative interviews and knowledge surveys with providers and staff to explore training, care processes, and improvement opportunities in reproductive service provision. We completed descriptive analyses of all of the quantitative data and used an open, iterative process to analyze provider interviews for emergent themes. We interviewed 15 providers (7 advanced practice nurses, 4 registered nurses, and 4 physicians) across nine sites (50% response rate). The commonly identified barriers included provider training and staffing, scheduling/referral processes, inconsistent services/supplies, and lack of veteran awareness of reproductive services. Facilitators included prior non-VHA reproductive health experience among providers, invested support staff, and the integrated VHA health system. Addressing barriers to VHA reproductive healthcare provision may overcome reproductive service variations related to clinic location and improve reproductive health outcomes for women veterans.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D005260 Female Females
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D014481 United States A country in NORTH AMERICA between CANADA and MEXICO.
D014493 United States Department of Veterans Affairs A cabinet department in the Executive Branch of the United States Government concerned with overall planning, promoting, and administering programs pertaining to VETERANS. It was established March 15, 1989 as a Cabinet-level position. United States Veterans Administration,Veterans Administration (U.S.),Veterans Affairs (U.S.),United States Veterans' Administration,United States. Dept. of Veterans Affairs,Veterans Administration
D014728 Veterans Former members of the armed services. Veteran
D016387 Women's Health The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of women. Woman's Health,Womens Health,Health, Woman's,Health, Women's,Health, Womens
D058014 Veterans Health The concept covering the physical and mental conditions of VETERANS. Health, Veterans
D036301 Qualitative Research Any type of research that employs nonnumeric information to explore individual or group characteristics, producing findings not arrived at by statistical procedures or other quantitative means. (Qualitative Inquiry: A Dictionary of Terms Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1997) Research, Qualitative

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