Impact of Attitudes and Rurality on Veterans' Use of Veterans Health Administration Mental Health Services.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Veterans, especially those residing in rural areas, continue to underutilize mental health care. This longitudinal study assessed attitudes relevant to seeking mental health care services from the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) over 12 months, adjusting for residence.

Methods

A questionnaire addressing attitudes, sociodemographic factors, residence, place identity, perceived health status and needs, and structural barriers was administered by telephone to 752 veterans with previous VHA service use. Service use data were obtained from a VHA database.

Results

In adjusted models, four attitudes were significantly associated with underuse of VHA mental health care (no use vs. any use; no use vs. nonsustained use vs. sustained use). Higher levels of mistrus

SUBMITTER: Fischer EP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8638372 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature