Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Annotated Bibliography


Christopher Corey

Dr. Sonia Begert

English 102

17 February 2015

 

Annotated Bibliography

Angrist, Joshua. "The Effect of Veteran's Benefits on Education and Earnings.” Industrial and Labor Relations Review. 46.4 (Jul. 1993): 637-652. JSTOR. Web.15 Jan. 15.


Veterans utilizing their Montgomery or Post 911 G.I. Bill have shown to have increased earnings and more educational goals being achieved. The problem is that a lot of veterans that have this benefit available to them don’t know the process involved in using it. Veterans need to be educated on the qualification and process in using this great benefit. A lot of veterans have been discharged or separated from their branch of service for many years and may not even know who to contact in regards to acquiring information.

Beckham, Jean C. “Are Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Using Mental Health Services? New Data From a National Random-Sample Survey.” Psychiatric Services (Washington, D.C.) 64.2 (2013): 134–141. PMC. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.

Many veterans who return home from serving overseas particularly in Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from some form of PTSD. This article looks into the facts of whether war veterans are using their mental health benefits or if they have no knowledge of them. Data collected on this survey provides us with a great idea of how many veterans are suffering from some sort of mental issue and how many of those go untreated. Chris Kyle’s story is a perfect example of how veterans are effected mentally and if left untreated can turn into something much worse.

Bronstein, Scott, Nelli Black, and Drew Griffin. “Hospital delays are killing America’s war veterans” (2013). CNN. Web. 3 Feb 15.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/19/health/veterans-dying-health-care-delays/

This is another article explaining how veterans are dying because of delays and how veterans are at the mercy of the hospitals terrible planning. Even though many veterans have died awaiting treatment these hospitals continue to receive good reviews and promote their staff. The fact this is happening is wrong and this piece helps unravel the real problem here.

Bronstein, Scott, Nelli Black, and Drew Griffin. "Veterans Dying Because of Health Care Delays." (2014). CNN. Web. 9 Jan 15


This article covers the story of atleast 19 veterans who died awaiting treatment and diagnosis at VA hospitals. The story of Barry Coates is told first hand and goes into details of his experience with the VA. For over a year Barry begged for an appointment to receive a colonoscopy and did eventually get that appointment only to find a cancerous tumor. He is now undergoing chemotherapy in an effort to save his life. If we would have been properly diagnosed and treated well before his appointment the tumor could have been caught much earlier.

Dawn, Vogt, et al. “Barriers to Veterans Health Administration Care in a Nationally Representative Sample of Women Veterans.” (2006). PMC. Web. 5 Feb 2015.


This article provides a different look on what women veterans face in the difficulty utilizing their benefits. A comparison between civilian women vice veteran women shows the difference is psychological states as well as emotional states. Individual and structural barriers have made using their benefits particularly more difficult than men’s.

Devin, Curt. “Bad VA Care may have Killed more than 1,000 Veterans, senator’s report says.”CNN. 24 Jun 2014. CNN. Web. 10 Feb 2015

This article goes into depth about treatment delays for veterans resulting in deaths. Although the connection between the wait time for diagnosis and treatment has not been officially linked to each other it is under investigation. A controversial system that promoted and incentivized managers to hide the fact that patients were waiting months for care is brought to light.

Glantz, Aaron. The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle against America's Veterans. Aaron Glantz, Berkley; UCP, 2009. Print.

This book goes into detail on how America and Veterans Administration have neglected soldiers and specifically their benefits not being provided to them. Veterans are felt as they are casted aside for new and upcoming service members therefore their needs are not met. It provides us with insight on how the Bush Administration cut back on veterans’ benefits year after year providing them with less options. This book will be particularly useful because it gives a connection on a personal level with the veterans effected by these cuts and maltreatment.

Lee, Christopher. "Delayed Benefits Frustrate Veterans; Hundreds of Thousands of Disability Claims Pending at VA; Current Wars Likely to Strain System further." The Washington Post. Apr 08 2007. ProQuest. Web. 10 Feb. 2015.

This article tells the story of a World War II veteran who contacted the VA nearly every day trying to collect his benefits that he rightfully earned. The article goes into how the VA has this cultural attitude of hostility surrounding it. Specifically, how business is handled over the phone, in person, and on paper; as in paper just magically getting lost 3 times. This article will provide me information on first hand encounter and details of the encounter of a war veteran.

Maynard, Charles. "Department of Veterans Affairs Compensation and Medical Care Benefits Accorded to Veterans with Major Limb Loss." (2010). Journal of Rehabilitation and Development. 47.4 (2010): 403-408. Web. 08 Jan 15.


This article dives into the relatively unknown federal benefits available to veterans who have lost a limb in combat. Over 2000 veterans reported a limb loss during the Vietnam War most of which reported receiving some sort of care of compensation from the VA. These benefits are important because they provide health care and financial support. This article is a great rendition of how the VA should be operating and providing care to its service members.

Philpott, Don, Janelle Hill. The Wounded Warrior Handbook: A Resource Guide for Returning Veterans. Lanham, MD: Government Institutes, 2012. Print.

This handbook gives wounded combat veterans specific information on questions or benefits inquiries that they may have. From personal experience information is not always at the ready and you must dig deep to find the answer to your questions. This hand book covers all of the benefits wounded veterans are entitled to and how to go about obtaining those benefits. Veterans can retrieve specific form numbers and resources to fulfill their requirements to collect benefits. This handbook is useful because it is a prime example of ways to improve upon veteran’s awareness of VA policies and procedures and is a perfect example of what should be the norm for VA practices. Every veteran should get this handbook as a benefit to them at no charge.

Oppel, Richard. “Some Top Officials Knew of V.A. Woes, Before the Scandal.” NY Times. 25 Dec 2014. Web. 1 Feb 2015

 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/26/us/politics/high-level-knowledge-before-veterans-affairs-scandal.html?_r=0015.

This article goes into details about the politics that were played by the VA’s higher up officials. Susan Bowers is an executive in charge of dozens of VA hospitals submitted a report  that claimed all of the hospitals she was in charge of were in certified compliance with policy. She was pressured to submit that report falsely by other VA officials knowing full well that they were not compliant.

Peterson, Gary, Emmons, Mark. “Veterans’ claims for benefits delayed by crushing VA backlog.” San Jose Mercury News. 16 Apr 2013. Mercurynews. 16 Feb 2015.


A insight into William Kasten’s VA claim that went untouched for over 700 days which triggered a series of interviews with VA reps. These interviews unveiled a ton of facts about a giant backlog of over 800,000 claims in processing and the average wait time for a claim to be processed is 273 days. Specific VA sites are worse than others and this article provides information from multiple sites.

“Some Veterans’ Hospitals in Shocking Shape.” ABC News  (2012) Web. 16 Feb 2015.


ABC News took a tour of several hospitals throughout the United States with a hidden camera and a reporter to see the conditions of these hospitals. They found almost all of them were not up code and tons of backlog patient files. Reports of misdiagnosis, terrible management, and deficient care we’re all hot issues that were addressed.

Snyder, Michael. “Why does the U.S. Government Treat Military Veterans Like Human Garbage?”  30 Aug 2012. The American Dream. 11  Feb 2015.


An article that dives into various stories of the terrible treatment of veterans returning from war. Each and every service member has dedicated their lives to serving their country only to be re paid with not so good rewards. The author provides thorough details and facts about endless waiting for veteran benefits, homeless veterans, VA hospital conditions, and much more.

United States. Department of Labor. “Employment Workshop Transition from Military to Civilian Workforce.”  Department of Labor. Jan 2015. Web. 10 Feb 2015.


A government document written by the Department of Labor which is a guide for participants in a transition to civilian life course offered for service members. It covers different scenarios and possible differences in personal interactions members should expect to see. Through resume writing and knowledge of all your benefits this guide will give you the tools to be successful and knowledgeable of the transition in front of you.

United States. Department of Labor. “Transition Assistance Manual.” Deparment of Labor. 2015. Web. 10  Feb 2015.


An additional guide for transitioning service members to use in helping the process to civilian life. This guide offers instruction on personal appraisal, career exploration, strategies for an effective job search, and much more. This is the guide that is used in the military Transition GPS course which is a requirement for all military members separating from their branch of service. This guide details benefits available to service members as well.

United States. Department of Veterans Affairs. Office of Inspector General. “Review of Alleged Patient Deaths, Patient Wait Times, and Scheduling Practices at the Phoenix VA Health Care System.” Office of the Inspector General. Department of Veterans Affairs. 26 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Feb. 15.

This government document reviews specific cases of veteran’s deaths, wait times for benefits, and the scheduling malpractice of the Phoenix Health Care System. The Veterans Administration assembled a team of auditors to review patient medical records who had died while on a wait list to receive treatment. They also reviewed records of appointments completed and there expected wait times versus the actual amount of time the patient waited for treatment. Lastly, they reviewed over 1 million emails and messages to determine validity of these cases to determine accountability issues. This PDF will be useful in my research project because it provides specific case studies and accurate percentages of veterans who faced these challenges. It provides unique situations that give us an idea of the different conflicts veterans and their families face in dealing with the VA.


This entry gives us information on the policy of a mandatory 40 hour training program to make veterans aware of their benefits upon separating from the armed forces. The transition from military to civilian life is difficult and this document provides proof the hardships these military members face and how the VA is not helping the case. I can use this article in my research project to support ideas that should be in effect to minimize veterans not receiving the knowledge of their benefits and what can be done to improve the process of transitioning to civilian life.

Wooten, Adam. "Access to Mental Health Services at Veteran Affairs Community-Based Outpatient Clinics." (2012). Industrial and Labor Relations Review 46.4 (Jul. 1993):637-652.Web.15 Jan. 15. http://ezproxy.olympic.edu:2067

Access to mental health services at the VA’s outpatient clinics is a system created by the VA instead of using conventional hospitals. In order to decrease the volume of customers at general public hospitals the VA now requires all beneficiaries to go to these outpatient clinics for treatment. This has become highly inconvenient veterans because although there are a lot of locations throughout the country not all have an outpatient clinic within reasonable distance.

 

Zezima, Katie. “Everything you need to know about the VA and the scandals engulfing it.” The Washington Post. 30 May 2014. The Fix. 5 Feb 2015

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/05/21/a-guide-to-the-va-and-the-scandals-engulfing-it/

An excellent article breaking down exactly what was happening during the VA’s period of extensive wait times, delays, and deaths. This article includes the story of uncovering the scandals and the resignation of the VA secretary Eric Shinseki. A detailed run down of the VA works and how it has deviated from the procedure and how it was caught gives you a great idea of exactly what has been going on.

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