Happy Veterans Day, and thank you to all who have served!
Veterans Day can be a catalyst in your community for year round efforts to be more inclusive of the needs of not only veterans, but all community members.
Stepping back to approach DEI goals and initiatives with a wider, more intersectional lens benefits everyone. Here are 5 reflection questions for Veterans Day to guide your team’s ongoing work.
1. How does your community invest in recognizing the intersectional identities, experiences, and needs of its members?
Like everyone, our veterans have layered identities that intersect with different kinds of social and structural inequities. The issues facing our veterans are diverse, and working to better support veterans does not have a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires attention to all facets of DEI education and social injustice.
Examples of how intersectionality can be relevant to veteran support:
Veterans are 50% more likely to become homeless than civilians - and the percentage of BIPOC veterans who report experiencing homelessness is more than double that of white veterans. The unemployment risk for BIPOC veterans is also 44% higher than that of white veterans.
National surveys have found that women veterans are at particularly high risk for Intimate Partner Violence over their lifespan - 33.0% of women veterans as compared to 23.8% of civilian women.
Studies have shown that compared to non-LGBTQ+ veterans, LGBTQ+ veterans are more than 4x more likely to report financial difficulty and were 7x times more likely to have not been able to afford mental health care when they needed it in a 12 month span.
2. How inclusive and supportive are your company or community’s benefits, policies, and culture for the needs of employees who live with mental illness and disability?
We must acknowledge, show respect for, and work to better include and accommodate our veterans who live with both visible and invisible disabilities. Better caring for our veterans across the spectrum of ability means better care for everyone.
3. How are you playing your part in raising awareness about and reducing stigma around mental illness?
Mental health stigma and accessibility of mental health care is a significant barrier for many veterans seeking civilian employment. Many veterans experience mental health issues including PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
Yet, the National Association for Mental Illness found that 65% of military personnel or veterans diagnosed with mental health conditions don't disclose them due to worries about being perceived as weak.
The National Council for Mental Well Being has also found that 30% of military personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan have a mental health condition requiring treatment, but less than 50% receive care.
The VA reported that in 2020, approximately 17 veterans died by suicide per day, and that suicide rates for veterans were almost 2x that of U.S. non-veterans.
We owe it to our veterans to work harder to break the stigma and remove barriers to treatment for mental illness.
4. How accessible are the physical spaces in your company or community? How can your environment be even more welcoming and easy to use for everyone across the spectrum of ability?
Accommodation for disability is required by law, but we should be proactive and go beyond legal compliance to maximize access and inclusion for all.
We have a responsibility to educate ourselves on best practices and to check in on and collaborate with the real people in our spaces who live with disabilities. Implement active listening and a growth mindset when receiving suggestions and requests, adjust accordingly, and repeat. This practice enhances comfort and usability for everyone.
5. How is your community working to acknowledge, unpack, and dismantle conscious and unconscious bias?
This includes bias against veterans. Many veterans endure real economic, social, and professional consequences based on stereotypes that homogenize and make unfounded assumptions about their experiences, abilities, skills, and even their personal qualities and mental health.
All forms of bias harm a community’s efforts to make meaningful progress towards creating more inclusive, equitable practices and fostering a culture of belonging and interconnection.
Our veterans are a diverse set of people with a range of different backgrounds, beliefs, preferences, personalities, needs, and talents.
It's important to recognize their unique contributions to their communities and to our country -
today and every day.
Sources:
https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReport/Minority_Veterans_Report.pdf
https://www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org/veterans-military/
https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/docs/data-sheets/2022/2022-National-Veteran-Suicide-Prevention-Annual-Report-FINAL-508.pdf
https://thediversitymovement.com/veterans-day-invest-in-veterans/
https://endhomelessness.org/blog/5-key-facts-about-homeless-veterans/
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB10087.html
Parr NJ, Young S, Ward R, et al. Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence/Sexual Assault Among Veterans. Washington (DC): Dept of Veterans Affairs; 2021 Dec. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK576986/
Kimerling R, Iverson K, Dichter M, et al. Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence among Women Veterans who Utilize Veterans Health Administration Primary Care. Journal of General Internal Medicine; 2016 Aug; 31(8): 888-894. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4945568/#CR14
Dichter M, Cerulli C, and Bossarte R. Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Among Women Veterans and Associated Heart Health Risks, Women's Health Issues, Volume 21, Issue 4, Supplement,2011, Pages S190-S194, ISSN 1049-3867, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.whi.2011.04.008.
https://greendoors.org/facts/veteran-homelessness.php
https://www.americanprogress.org/article/lgbtq-military-members-and-veterans-face-economic-housing-and-health-insecurities/
https://ncadv.org/STATISTICS
https://toolkit.vets.syr.edu/article/understanding-and-overcoming-the-stigma-of-ptsd/
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