By the Numbers: 9 March 2020
47%
The percentage of the U.S. Veteran population that is over the age of 65, according to a recent article in the Gerontological Society of America journal, Public Policy & Aging Report -- Mental Health and Aging Veterans: How the Veterans Health Administration Meets the Needs of Aging Veterans. The article notes that "this number is expected to increase to 52% by 2024."
"Recent estimates place the current living veteran population at around 19 million (Holder, 2016), consisting of approximately 389,000 World War II, 1.2 million Korean- era, 6.3 million Vietnam-era, 7.6 million Gulf War–era, and 3.5 million Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans, with over 9 million veterans served by the VHA annually (Gaudet & Kligler, 2019; National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2017). Each cohort is unique in their deployment cycles, service-related exposures (i.e., combat exposure, exposure to the wounded and dying, physical injury, environmental hazards exposures; Taylor, Ureña, & Kail, 2016), and homecoming experiences, which can influence the aging process, physical health, and mental health care needs."
47%
The percentage of the U.S. Veteran population that is over the age of 65, according to a recent article in the Gerontological Society of America journal, Public Policy & Aging Report -- Mental Health and Aging Veterans: How the Veterans Health Administration Meets the Needs of Aging Veterans. The article notes that "this number is expected to increase to 52% by 2024."
"Recent estimates place the current living veteran population at around 19 million (Holder, 2016), consisting of approximately 389,000 World War II, 1.2 million Korean- era, 6.3 million Vietnam-era, 7.6 million Gulf War–era, and 3.5 million Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) veterans, with over 9 million veterans served by the VHA annually (Gaudet & Kligler, 2019; National Center for Veterans Analysis and Statistics, 2017). Each cohort is unique in their deployment cycles, service-related exposures (i.e., combat exposure, exposure to the wounded and dying, physical injury, environmental hazards exposures; Taylor, Ureña, & Kail, 2016), and homecoming experiences, which can influence the aging process, physical health, and mental health care needs."