WOMEN VETERANS

The American Legion Womens Veterans Survey

Program Statement

 The American Legion, the nation’s largest veterans service organization, has long recognized the important contributions of women in the military; they now account for nearly 20 percent of our armed forces. However, only about 25 percent of 1.8 million women veterans are using the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health-care system. Many women veterans have either chosen not to enroll in VA services, or are unaware of the medical benefits they have earned through their service.

The American Legion’s Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission has developed an outreach program for women veterans, collecting their input and speaking on their behalf to Congress, the VA and the Defense Dept. In order to strengthen its advocacy role, the Legion needs to conduct a comprehensive survey of women veterans about their experiences and attitudes concerning health care provided by the VA, private practitioners and other health-care providers.

Results from this survey will be used to refine the Legion’s outreach methods, enhance its written and oral testimony to Congress and federal agencies, and improve its own programs that evaluate the quality of VA health care. The survey will also help to identify unmet needs among women veterans, and guide the development of specific remedies.

Survey areas may include SERVQUAL attributes measuring ten aspects of service quality: reliability, responsiveness, competence, access, courtesy, communication, credibility, security, understanding (or knowing) the customer and tangibles. The objective is to measure the extent to which available service meets the perceptions, needs, and expectations of women veterans.

This research is important for many reasons, including the fact that women represent a rapidly growing portion of U.S. veterans. After analyzing the survey’s data, The American Legion will be better qualified to make specific recommendations for congressional appropriations, VA programs and facilities, and to increase public awareness of issues facing women veterans.

The survey will be disseminated to women veterans worldwide. The American Legion has teamed with other veterans service organizations to reach all branches of the armed forces, reserve, and National Guard.

This survey was developed by American Legion specialists on women veterans issues, who are responsible for its content, distribution, data collection and analysis.

This survey shall be available for your input beginning Wednesday, January 5, 2011 through Monday, January 31, 2011.

 Click HERE for full information and survey forms..