Veterans living in rural communities have challenges connecting with medical and psychological treatment services. A survey for veterans suffering with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is hoping to better understand this underserved population.
The Institute for Rural Social Work Research (IRSR), a 501c3 affiliated with the School of Social Work, has dispatched 15 individuals across the state with a 34-question survey for PTSD suffering veterans. The team of survey collectors has covered at least 10 New Mexico communities since June and will continue to do so until mid-August.
“We are trying to find out how aware veterans are of treatments, if they know that they exist, and how far they are willing to travel and receive the treatment,” said Dr. Bob Rickle, professor of Social Work and Director of IRSR.
Funded through legislative appropriations, the project was created to learn more about veterans living in rural communities and their access to care. Survey collectors have visited veteran organizations and hosted information booths at public events.
“There are around 200,000 veterans in the state,” said Rickle. “That’s about 10% of the state population and about 30% of those veterans live in rural areas.”
Veterans participating with the survey answer questions about their time of service, treatment information and capability to travel. They survey also collects information on alternative treatments such as hypnosis, yoga and herbal remedies.
Jennifer Rider, social work student and survey collector, is surprised at the level of engagement by veterans to share information.
“There is a lot more open-mindedness in terms of alternative and complimentary treatments,” explained Rider whose father and uncle are veterans. “I feel like I’m already getting involved in social work in a real life sense by participating with this survey project.”
Rickle and his team are encouraging veterans in the community, especially younger aged veterans, to participate in the survey before it closes in mid-August.
“We are going to turn this information into an article and it will presented to publications and other areas,” said Rickle.
The survey is available online: www.surveymonkey.com/s/T3JJKRV