Ask the Experts: Veterans' Perspectives on Communicating About Airborne Hazard Exposures

We sought to identify key areas to inform the development of Veteran-facing airborne hazard exposure communication materials.

Military personnel are commonly exposed to environmental and occupational hazards. Airborne hazard exposures may be particularly salient to Veterans because they are common, and the relationship to health concerns is often uncertain. VA offers a toolkit to help providers navigate caring for Veterans with airborne hazard exposure concerns. Veteran-facing materials, which address their concerns, are lacking.

Five generative, qualitative focus groups with Veterans with airborne hazard exposure concerns. Focus group discussions covered information needs, how the VA should communicate about environmental exposures when the evidence is unclear, communication preferences, and how they get health information.

We identified 3 areas important to communicating with Veterans about their airborne hazard exposure concerns. (1) Veterans want personalized, transparent and comprehensive communication. (2) Veterans want to be able to act on the information with tangible next steps. (3) Diverse, multimodal communication strategies are needed to reach the range of Veterans with concerns about airborne hazard exposures.

In situations of uncertainty, where robust clinical guidance is limited, Veterans want Veteran-centered, transparent, respectful communication that attends to their socially and historically rooted exposure experiences. The information they receive on airborne exposures should be actionable and delivered through a variety of modalities.