Veterans

Delivered August 4th, 2017. Contributors: Katrina R., Sara F., Sarah M., Ryan W., Leslie V., Barb B. and

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How many blind veterans are there in the US, by state? (part 1)

Hello there! Thank you for your question on how many blind veterans are in the United States by each state. The short answer is that I have completed the provided spreadsheet in columns J and K in rows 9 to 33. Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.

METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS
I conducted a comprehensive search through government databases and reports and corporate websites for any relevant information. Throughout my search, I have endeavored to extrapolate any relevant statistical information. All vital information derived from a census database that provided a state-wise veteran count. 

In order to portray my findings, I have detailed all relevant insights and quantitative information in the spreadsheet table. Throughout my entries, I have endeavored to maintain the formatting of the previous editor. All corresponding sources have been indicated in the spreadsheet.

To paint a full picture, in the year 2017 there are estimated to be 160,000 blind veterans. This statistic can be reaffirmed by another source: 158,300 blind veterans are reported by Tom Miller "Retired Executive Director of the Blinded Veterans Association".  This is an increase on previous years, as in 2010 it is reported that there were 147,864 blind veterans in the United States. It is notable that there are an additional 700,000 veterans that suffer from low vision. Overall, 18% of the legally blind in the U.S. are veterans. 

CONCLUSION
To round it up, I have updated the provided spreadsheet to encompass all possible findings. Any information that I couldn't portray in the spreadsheet I have further detailed here.

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How many blind veterans are there in the US, by state?

Hello! Thanks for asking Wonder how many blind veterans there are in the US, by state. In short, after an exhaustive search through government, veterans, and disability-oriented sources, I've determined that the information you have requested is not publicly compiled. However, I was able to learn that there are about 20.78 million US veterans and approximately 228,000 of them are legally blind or visually impaired. Using this information, I was able to triangulate an estimate for each state. Below and in the attached spreadsheet, please find the results of my research.

METHODOLOGY
I've searched extensively through public data sources, such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US Census Fact Finder, the US Department of Veterans Affairs, the Disabled Veterans of America, the National Foundation for the Blind, the Blind Veterans Association, and the Social Security Administration. None of these sources provided statistics on blind veterans by state. I also searched state veterans associations and veterans benefits sources, but limited information was available. So, I looked for statistics on the total number of blind or visually impaired US veterans, along with the total number of veterans by state, so that I could triangulate an estimated figure for each state.

STATISTICS AND CALCULATIONS
The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) indicates there are 20,783,555 veterans in the United States. According to Vision Aware, there are approximately 158,000 legally blind US veterans and another 70,000 who have low vision, giving us a total of 228,000 blind or visually impaired veterans. Therefore, about 1.1% (228,000 / 20,783,555) of all US veterans are blind or visually impaired. This figure is rounded since 1.1% of 20,783,555 is actually 228,619.

These figures include Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and Island areas and foreign-living veterans. Applying the 1.1% to these regions, we get the following figures:

Puerto Rico: 945
Island areas and foreign: 1,231
Washington, D.C.: 318

Subtracting these figures from our 228,000 total, we get 225,506 blind or visually impaired veterans.

The VA offers a spreadsheet with the total number of veterans in each state. I have used this data and applied the 1.1% of veterans who are blind or visually impaired to the figures for each state to estimate the state totals. To confirm the accuracy of this method, I was able to find a reference to the number of blind veterans in Kentucky in 2011 (the most recent reference I could find). In that state, there are an estimated 3,000 blind veterans. According to the VA, there are 302,068 veterans living in Kentucky. Applying the 1.1% figure to this number, we get 3,322, suggesting that this calculation method is fairly accurate. The VA also states that about 7,000 veterans become blind or visually impaired every year. That figure represents about a 3% yearly increase, based on our initial figure of 228,000, so this may partially account for the differential in the quoted Kentucky figure and the estimated figure.

When entering all the calculated figures for the 50 states into your provided spreadsheet, I get a sum of 226,105 blind or visually impaired veterans. The difference from our calculated figure of 225,506 can be accounted for due to rounding of the figures.

SUMMARY
To sum up, there are approximately 228,000 blind or visually impaired US veterans. I've provided the requested data on the number of blind or visually impaired US veterans in each state in the attached spreadsheet.

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How many blind US veterans are receiving care within the system (i.e. the Veterans' Administration)

Hello, and thanks for your question asking how many blind US veterans are receiving care within the system (i.e. the Veterans' Administration).  I have found that there are 49,605 blind or visually impaired veterans receiving care within the system.  Below you will find a deep dive into my research, in along with all the details as to how I came to this conclusion.

OVERVIEW
In order to answer your question I search for the most recent data available that explained how many blind US veterans are receiving care within the system.  I found that the US Department of Veterans Affairs' website to be very useful here, they provided data on the total number receiving care, as well as a more detailed breakdown.  I have entered this information into the spreadsheet that you provided, along with a deeper explanation of my findings below.

FINDINGS
The US Department of Veterans Affairs tells us that in 2014 (the most recent year these statistics were available for), there were 49,605 veterans who are blind or visually impaired who are receiving care and benefits.  In addition to this, they tell us that in 2014, a total of 2,172 severely disabled blind Veterans and Service members were inpatients in rehabilitation centers, and 16,939 were outpatients in these centers.  

I also found that there is a total of 130,428 veterans in the US who are legally blind, and another 1 million who have low vision.

Finally, I also found some extra information on costs.  A Johns Hopkins Public Health study found that deployment-related eye injuries and blindness to US veterans cost the U.S. around $2.3 billion each year.  

CONCLUSION
Overall, I have found that there are 49,605 blind or visually impaired veterans receiving care within the system.  In addition, I also found that deployment-related eye injuries and blindness to US veterans cost the U.S. around $2.3 billion each year.

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How many blind US veterans are receiving care outside of the system (i.e. outside of the Veterans' Administration)

Hello! Thanks for your question about the number of blind veterans receiving heath care outside of the system. Although there is no specific research on blind veterans receiving care outside of the system, I was able to triangulate an estimation based on existing data. The short answer is that there are between 100,495 and 112,575 blind veterans receiving healthcare outside of the system.  Below you will find a deep dive of my findings.
METHODOLOGYThe Blinded Veterans Association suggests that there are 158,000 blind or visually impaired veterans. Other VA research studies have found as of 2015 there are 131,580 legally blind veterans in the US. I have decided to use figures from the Blinded Veterans Association in my calculations as it includes numbers for the legally blind veterans and also for visually impaired veterans.

CALCULATIONS
Taking the total number of blind/visually impaired veterans (158,000) and multiplying it by the percentage of veterans that access some form of health care (95%), I was able to find the total number of blind veterans accessing some form of health care (150,100). The total number of blind veterans accessing healthcare through the VA is 49,605. Taking this number and subtracting it from the total number of blind veterans accessing health care (150,100) I found that 100,495 veterans are accessing healthcare outside of the system. Check out the math below:

158,000*95% = 150,100 blind veterans accessing any form of health care. 150,100 – 49,605 = 100,495 accessing health care outside of the system. 

Alternatively, other research suggests 75% of veterans are accessing healthcare outside of the system. Therefore, taking the 95% of blind veterans (150,100) that access any form of healthcare and multiplying it by 75% will give us an estimation of 112, 575. Check out the math below:

150,100*75% = 112,575

CONCLUSION

To wrap it up, there are an estimated 100,495 to 112, 575 blind veterans not accessing health care from the system. There are currently no studies that give an exact number of blind veterans receiving healthcare outside of the system. These numbers were estimated using the available data on this topic. 

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On average, how many US veterans have the ability to come to a Veterans' Medical Center in a metro area?

Hello and thank you for your question about how many US veterans are able to go to a Veterans' Medical Center in a metro area. My colleagues and I were able to determine that the average number of US veterans who have the ability access a Veterans' Medical Center is 11,323. Below is the research methodology and some additional information that you might find useful.

METHODOLOGY

We scoured the internet for the information you needed however there are no readily-available data for it. To be able to at least arrive at an estimate, we first searched for a list of the VA medical centers in the US. After that, we downloaded an Excel file from census.gov that contains a list of all the metropolitan areas in the US. We cross-referenced each medical center's address to the list to determine which medical centers are located in a metropolitan area. Finally, we downloaded another excel file titled State/Territories Summary Reports that was released on September 22, 2016. The file can be located in the State Summaries page of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website. It contained information about the number of patients who were treated in VA facilities per state and per county. 

After collecting all the information we needed, we created another Google spreadsheet (separate from the one you asked us to fill out) titled Vet Medical Center-Metro Area Data. The spreadsheet contains a master list of all the metropolitan areas in the US, a list of all VA healthcare facilities and a list of VA medical centers. Column D in the "VA Medical Centers" sheet reflects the number of patients who got treatment in the county where the medical center is located. We got the numbers from VA.gov. A medical center with no corresponding value means that it is not located in a metropolitan area. From there, we computed the national average. 

The computed average is just an estimate since it is based on the assumption that the number of veterans who were able to receive treatment in a particular location is also the number of veterans who have the ability to go to access a VA medical center in that area. 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

— There are 291 metropolitan areas in the US according to the United States Census Bureau.

— There are 952 VA medical facilities across the United States. 

— There are 76 VA medical centers. The rest are either hospitals or outpatient clinics.

— Out of the 76, only 31 VA medical centers are located in a metropolitan area. 

— The county of Wayne, MI — where John D. Dingell VA Medical Center is located — treated a total of 23,951 veterans, the largest volume among all the counties in scope. 

CONCLUSION

To wrap it up, the estimated number of US veterans with the ability to access a VA medical center in a metro-area is 11,323. 

Thanks for using Wonder and please let us know if you need help with anything else.

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What are the top 5 Industry Websites related to Military Life / Recruitment?

Hello! Thank you for your research request to find the top 5 websites that are related to military life/recruitment. The short version is that Military.com, the US Army, the US Navy, Military Times and Stars and Stripes are the top 5 military life/recruitment websites based on the number of visits in the last 6 months. Below you will find a deep dive of my research methods and findings.
METHODOLOGYI conducted advanced Internet searches using a variety of keywords and query types. I sifted through information from trusted media sites, organizational websites and social media feeds. I confined the search results to within the last year, and the website traffic and social media data were gathered on August 3, 2017. There was no geographic preference given, but based on the nature of your project, I confined my searching to US websites. As requested, I did not include blogs or podcasts in the top 5. 

To determine the “top” military life/recruitment websites, I went through the lists of top websites in those categories that were generated on Alexa and SimilarWeb and pulled out the first several that best fit the criteria of most website traffic, related to military life and/or recruitment and that were in English. I also cross-referenced the sites with those shown on FeedSpot (again, excluding blogs and podcasts). From this, I looked up the traffic statistics for each site on SimilarWeb, put them in descending order by the number of visits in the last 6 months and selected the top 5. I also found the number of Facebook followers for each in case that is helpful for your project. I made the assumption that “military life” websites would offer more than just news and include additional features that related to everyday life and the issues facing military personnel and their families. For the top recruitment websites (I chose the top 2 for the list), I relied on the total number of website visits in the last 6 months.
RESULTSFor your convenience, I summarized the information in this Google spreadsheet including the name of the site with the link, a brief description, website traffic data and the number of Facebook followers. The links for the information in the spreadsheet are found in the column labeled Sources. Note – On the spreadsheet, the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave the site after looking at only one page.

Based on the criteria described, I identified the top 5 military life/recruitment websites as:

1.	Military.com 
2.	US Army 
3.	US Navy 
4.	Military Times 
5.	Stars and Stripes 
CONCLUSIONTo wrap it up, Military.com, the US Army, the US Navy, Military Times and Stars and Stripes are the top 5 military life/recruitment websites based on the number of visits in the last 6 months.

Thanks for using Wonder. Please let us know if we can help with anything else!