Health Policy Initiatives for African American Women Veterans

Abstract

America’s military has experienced great changes in the demographic makeup of its veterans over the past few decades. In fact, the fastest growing group in the U.S. military is women. This demographic trend has also brought new challenges in dealing with gender issues, something that the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has only recently begun to acknowledge. The VHA has responded in several ways to gender issues in health care and health outcomes. And, although the VHA is dealing with multiple gender matters, this article will focus on initiatives to combat cardiovascular disease (CVD) in women veterans. It will also highlight the significance of CVD, both to women veterans in general and to African American women veterans specifically. The article concludes with a discussion of VHA activities and strategies to improve the cardiovascular health of African American women veterans.