Sleep Problems affecting Veterans

By Ginny Estupinian

A federal study showed that one of the problems that many veterans returning from war deal with is lack of sleep and wakefulness issues. Among the problems associated are reoccurring nightmares that simply make sleep a major difficulty.

On Tuesday August the 12th at noon PST, a  FREE web chat is scheudled.  This chat will include experts from the Veterans Adminsitration who will not only talk about the issues but answer questions live. On the chat will be Dr. Thomas C. Neylan, director of the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders Program at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and Steve Woodward, director of the Sleep Research Laboratory at the VA’s National Center for PTSD in Palo Alto

You can find more information about the chat by going to:www.latimes.com/sleepchat.

The Increasing Plight of Homeless Female Veterans

By Ginny Estupinian

 

Many times when we think of homeless veterans the first thing that comes to mind are male veterans and we don’t read or hear much about the female veterans who become homeless.  However, According to some records there are currently an estimated 8,000 homeless female veterans nationwide, and the numbers are expected to increase as more women veterans return from the war.

 

The obvious question is why would these returning veterans be at risk for homelessness?

Some veteran’s advocates have stated that the main risk factors for homelessness include combat related stress and military sexual trauma. Adding to the problem is the fact that currently it is estimated that 70% of women veterans have children. This means that instead of finding shelter for just one person it is now necessary to find shelter for two or more in the same facility.

 

One way to assist veterans who find themselves homeless is to provide a temporary or transitional housing facility. In these transitional housing programs veterans can stay on average for a year, getting the skills and counseling they need while waiting for a housing voucher to move into more permanent housing.

 

According to the U.S. Department of veterans affairs there are currently 550 transitional housing programs for male veterans in the country but only 300 of these programs can accept women. As you can imagine there is a waiting list for these transitional housing services.

 

The VA officially recognizes this problem and is making available more grants outside the VA system to develop more of these housing programs for homeless female veterans. At the same time several bills have been introduced in Congress including development of affordable housing for female veterans and linking the VA with the Department of Defense to identify returning soldiers who are at risk of homelessness.

 

Nevertheless, the problem will get worse as the need and numbers of these female veterans increase. My concern is that the solutions presented may be too limited and take too long to implement given the totality of the problem.