Aug 20, 2014 03:10 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

United States veterans are generally satisfied with mental health care, according to a recent study.

Researchers found that patients with a substance use disorder were less satisfied than other veterans who received mental health services. Those with substance abuse problems also were less likely than others to report that staff listened to them or respected their decisions.

"We found that veterans who received services from the VA for mental health or substance use problems reported satisfaction with their care that was similar to or slightly lower than people who receive similar care in other public or private health care systems," said Kimberly Hepner, the study's lead author and a senior behavioral scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. "There certainly was room for improvement in all the areas we studied."

For the study, researchers surveyed more than 5,000 veterans who had received services from the Veterans Health Administration for bipolar disorder, major depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia or substance use disorder. Participants were asked about their need for housing and employment services, timeliness and recovery orientation of their care, satisfaction with care and perceptions of symptom improvement.

Half of the patients reported always receiving routine appointments as soon as requested and 42 percent of those surveyed said they were highly satisfied with the mental health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration.  About 74 percent of patients reported being helped by the treatment, yet just 32 percent said that their symptoms had improved. Patients who had been treated for substance use disorder were less likely to report being helped by the care they received.

Researchers said that while the information presented in the study is several years old, the results are the latest and most-complete assessment of veterans' satisfaction with mental health and substance use care received through the Veterans Health Administration.

The findings were recently published in the journal Psychiatric Services.

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