New VA patients younger, more often women

Submitted by axolotl on Tue, 2009-12-15 03:33

Article here. Excerpt:

'"It's not the old guys group anymore," said Ann Brown, the medical center director, from her office inside the brown brick hospital not far from Harpers Ferry. "It's women and it's younger, and the younger folks, they need more than just medical care. They've got family issues. They need help reintegrating in how to get back into their jobs."'

A couple of observations:

1) The headline 'more often women' turns out to apply to a clinic in some small town.
2) You know those (old) guys - no family issues to worry about, and no reintegration necessary!
3) War is affecting women soldiers - now we really better do something!!

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    "The older men, you can pretty much do anything," Hopper said. "They are very cooperative with whatever needs to get done. It's definitely a change."
    ...
    Reflecting another common complaint, congressional investigators in July said that VA hospitals weren't always providing privacy to female veterans when they bathed and received exams.

The indifference, even hostility, to the modesty of male patients is one of my pet peeves. Although men stoically put up with it--typically male, without complaint--IMO, it is one of the main reasons men avoid routine medical care...until it's too late. Men are literally being embarrassed to death. You can learn more about this and other medical male privacy violations here. (Pay special attention to the Group Physical section.)

You should also notice how seriously the [female] staff take the privacy and feeeeelings of the [few] women patients:

    "In Martinsburg, for example, the hospital recently got a bone density scan machine and had an interior decorator design a warm, neutral-colored room with beach-themed art work to put it in. The door closes for privacy, and there's a hook for hanging up clothes — accommodations that once weren't much of an issue," said Terry Hopper, the nuclear medicine supervisor.

As one poster here puts it: A problem isn't a problem until it affects women.

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Submitted by Hunchback on Tue, 2009-12-15 13:47