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Editor's Notes

• #11: WHV is designed for all Veterans in all wars in the world not just the USA
• #13: Open discussion on the What’s in it for me.
• #14: Open discussion on the What’s in it for me.
• #34: Louisiana total population: 4.65 million; Veteran population = 330,145 or 7.1%; population >65 = 632,400 (roughly 1:5 are Veterans)
• #35: Louisiana total population: 4.65 million; Veteran population = 330,145 or 7.1%; population >65 = 632,400 (roughly 1:5 are Veterans)
• #40: A little about myself, I’m the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran and sister to an Active Duty Career Army Soldier. Several years ago when my father’s health was declining, we were looking for help with my father’s health at home. The resources seemed desolate and we were frustrated. I learned about Hospice too late but am hopeful that each of us can play a part in improving the care and access to our Veterans and their families. Each level is designed not just to achieve levels but to educate and encourage local VA Medical Centers, CBOCs, as well as Veterans and their families to use this time sensitive care that’s available to them in their homes and/or facilities.
• #41: For each level, you may notice the 3 topic heading theme. Education….
• #42: Organizational Policies and Procedures, and Hospice – Veteran Partnerships. We’ll talk about each of those ongoing topics but get more specific with the development of the Veteran to Veteran Volunteer Program.
• #43: You have already been doing this. Education is ongoing! My suggestion is to always start with trainings you’re currently doing. Consider and research how it may differ with Veterans and educate your staff by building onto current knowledge (ie. A topic about Bedside manner & add “Questions not to ask a Veteran”). Relate it to current events, current patients, and even current individuals in bereavement. The above Power Point presentations are available on the We Honor Veterans website and are resources filled with vital information that you may decide to break down into what your staff needs but don’t limit it to these topics. Your community, your staff, and each Veteran is unique and has unique needs. If you’re creative about creating this Veteran Centric Culture then education is everywhere. We found that our staff had parents, spouses, children and distant family members were Veterans and had experiences that led us all to more information. For example, I learned that a high school friend’s son has returned to civilian life with PTSD and a therapy dog at less than 30 years old. In talking to a local hospital social worker, I discovered that her nephew was involved in a local Veteran service dog organization but they had to put the dog down. She shared the grieving process that the Veteran and his family were experiencing. I later learned that the dog was given a Military Processional to the Veterinarians. Little by little I learn about PTSD and its affects on our community, our neighbors, our medical community, and individual Veterans and their family. Life for many will never be the same. As Bereavement Coordinator, Military trauma re-emerged for a Veteran who lost his wife. Our bereavement program has to be prepared and educated. The more education your staff have in reserve, the better they are able to react in times where the information is most needed. These are just ideas of where to get various topics and how to continue on-going education. Make sure to maintain sign in sheets for documentation of date, time, and staff/volunteer present. [Share, if needed: Register at MyVeHu Campus for more education.]
• #44: Here is a visual of the page you will spend a lot of time on for each Level. The “Get practical resources” Tab is the go-to page for information on the We Honor Veterans website. For Level 3, I want to point out Volunteer Programs, Honoring Veterans, and Veteran Benefits. But we’ll start with Volunteer Programs.
• #45: For all hospices, volunteers are vital and required. This program can be designed as simple or complicated depending on your need and availability and based on your current volunteer program. Review the Veteran to Veteran Volunteer Fact Sheet. You can also review, adapt, and present the “Hospice Veteran Volunteer Outreach and Support PPT” as staff and volunteer education. This PPT will give you the basics on integrating a Veteran focus in your current Volunteer program. As you gain more success with your volunteer program, the next PPT is an excellent model. For startup, use it to fine tune your program. If you have a large volunteer base already with Veterans and/or family members, utilize this structure. The most helpful slides are “Advertising the Program to Your Staff”, “Recruiting Veteran Volunteers”, “Military Cultural Norms” and the various slides on ideas of how to utilize Veteran Volunteers. When we were preparing to start our program, one volunteer revealed that she was a former Marine. I was so excited because that was the door we needed to engage her specifically in our Pinning Ceremonies and glean from her military culture knowledge. She is a tough lady and readily expressed the difference in the communication pattern in a civilian vs. military workplace. Another opportunity for education. [Potential Questions: how many Veteran volunteers should you have before you declare it a program? 1+. Match Veterans with similar histories for optimal outcomes. Evaluation of program?]
• #46: If you’re now asking how can we engage and utilize Veteran Volunteers...Here’s some ideas! This is one page of ideas from the Volunteer Power Point Presentations on the We Honor Veteran’s website. These can be done on holidays first and evolve to year round as your program grows and you have more Veterans.
• #47: Organizationally, you want to continue to evaluate the following things because they are foundational to the entire We Honor Veterans Program. First, How is the Military History Checklist process working to improve the care and recognition of Veterans? Does your staff know who is a Veteran? Do you acknowledge the Veteran’s service? Do you know how the Veteran perceives his/her service? You may even consider expanding to honoring Veteran spouses and children of your patient… Something you may not have done in Level 1 or 2.) Second, Review Standard’s of Practice for Hospice Programs with staff. The more you review it, the more natural it becomes to implement. Some of your staff may already be carrying these standards out and others may need to know how to integrate this in their care. Talk about these standards in staff meeting (how comfortable is chaplain on spiritual and forgiveness for war trauma, is social worker able to address psychosocial and PTSD needs). Third, Begin identifying trends of those Veterans you are serving (ie. 60% WWII). Your own data can provide you statistics for educating staff about local Veteran needs and disease processes for each era. And Finally, develop, implement, and evaluate procedures for assisting Veterans and their families to access Benefits. No idea is too small to continue to build on this process of improving the care for our aging Veterans. On a previous VA Taskforce Webinar, we learned about the importance of Hospice documentation of service connected illness and the bereaved spouse getting benefits.
• #48: The most important part of this is that we are becoming Veteran Knowledgeable Hospice Professionals who are working together with the VA and Veterans to improve their care and access to care. Here’s ideas on how to Get involved. Know your VA Medical Center’s, etc… Be a resource to them and they will be a resource to you.
• #49: And finally, go to the Honoring Veterans page. It will give you ideas on how to make your program unique with Veteran Certificates and Veteran holiday observances for you to plan towards.
• #50: I found the Veteran Pinning Ceremony and shared it with a few of my staff members and military family members. It developed into something special. After honoring the first Veteran patient, tears were plenty. Each time we honor our Veterans, it’s a reminder that freedom is not free, we care for living historians and it’s an awesome responsibility. It then becomes our mission to remind the Veteran of how much we recognize their personal sacrifices, whether small or large, that they made to protect the freedom. Thank you and God bless!
• #55: A little about myself, I’m the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran and sister to an Active Duty Career Army Soldier. Several years ago when my father’s health was declining, we were looking for help with my father’s health at home. The resources seemed desolate and we were frustrated. I learned about Hospice too late but am hopeful that each of us can play a part in improving the care and access to our Veterans and their families. Each level is designed not just to achieve levels but to educate and encourage local VA Medical Centers, CBOCs, as well as Veterans and their families to use this time sensitive care that’s available to them in their homes and/or facilities.
• #57: A little about myself, I’m the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran and sister to an Active Duty Career Army Soldier. Several years ago when my father’s health was declining, we were looking for help with my father’s health at home. The resources seemed desolate and we were frustrated. I learned about Hospice too late but am hopeful that each of us can play a part in improving the care and access to our Veterans and their families. Each level is designed not just to achieve levels but to educate and encourage local VA Medical Centers, CBOCs, as well as Veterans and their families to use this time sensitive care that’s available to them in their homes and/or facilities.