ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, the number of women veterans using Veterans Health Administration (VHA) care has nearly doubled, and numbers are continuing to rise. Women veterans of Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn (OEF/OIF/OND) are substantially more likely to seek VHA health care than women from previous eras. This influx of new women veterans represents a changing face of women in VHA. With more than two-thirds of the OEF/OIF/OND cohort in reproductive age groups, there is a projected need for enhanced services across many domains. There is a growing need for reproductive health care, including attention to the issues of contraception and childbirth. These age groups also represent the peak years for utilization of mental health services among women. As such, there is a need for increased attention to access for mental health services, including treatment of war-zone exposures, and attention to couples and family issues that are especially relevant to women’s adjustment.
