American Legion Women Veterans Survey Deadline is Jan. 31

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Legion is encouraging women veterans to participate in an online survey about health-care issues before it ends on Jan. 31.

"We've already received an excellent response," said Verna Jones, director of the Legion's veterans affairs and rehabilitation division. "But we'd like to get even more women who have served our country in uniform to take part in this survey."

The American Legion launched the survey Jan. 5 as a method to further improve its understanding of health-care issues and treatments that affect women veterans, and their satisfaction level on how VA accommodates their needs.

According to The American Legion, only about 25 percent of nearly two million women veterans in the country are using medical services provided by VA.

"In the coming years, our population of women veterans is going to increase substantially," Jones said. "We need to find out why more of them are using private health care instead of using VA medical benefits they've already earned through their service."

Jones said that The American Legion will analyze data collected from the survey (conducted by ProSidian Consulting in Charlotte, N.C.) to strengthen its congressional testimony and recommendations to VA and other federal agencies, and to provide more effective assistance to women veterans who seek the Legion's help.

"The survey will help to identify unmet needs among women veterans, and guide the Legion's development of specific remedies and recommendations," said Denise Williams, the organization's assistant director of health policy. "Then we can offer them to VA as specific actions to eliminate specific health-care problems faced by women veterans."

Women veterans can participate in the survey by clicking on the "Take Our Survey" icon on The American Legion's home page at www.legion.org.

SOURCE The American Legion