Veterans on Home care

VA Gives $4.7 Million to Help Caregivers
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will provide nearly $4.7 million for “caregiver assistance pilot programs” to expand and improve health care education and provide needed training and resources for caregivers who assist disabled and aging veterans in their homes. The pilot programs will support eight caregiver projects across the country. Among the key services provided to caregivers are transportation, respite care, case management and service coordination, assistance with personal care (bathing and grooming), social and emotional support, and home safety evaluations.
Education programs teach caregivers how to obtain community resources such as legal assistance, financial support, housing assistance, home delivered meals and spiritual support. In addition, caregivers are taught skills such as time management techniques, medication management, communication skills with the medical staff and the veteran, and ways to take better care of themselves. The VA pilot programs include:
At the Memphis (Tenn.) and Palo Alto (Calif.) VA medical centers, a project will provide education, support and skills-building to help caregivers manage both patient behaviors and their own stress. This intervention will be provided in 14 Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) programs across the country and also to caregivers in non-HBPC settings at the Palo Alto VAMC.
At the VA medical center in Gainesville, Fla., caregivers will take part in a Transition Assistance Program to provide skills training, education and supportive problem solving using videophone technology.
At the VA Healthcare System of Ohio, headquartered in Cincinnati, caregiver advocates will be available around the clock to coordinate between VA and community services.
At the VA Desert Pacific Network and the VA Sierra Nevada Healthcare System, VA will work with a community coalition to provide education, skills training and resources for caregivers of veterans with traumatic brain injury using computer-based telehealth, including Web, telephone and videoconferencing.
At the VA medical center in Albany, N.Y., a pilot project will convert a three-hour workshop developed by the National Family Caregivers Association called “Communicating Effectively with Health Care Professionals” into a cost-effective multimedia format.
At the Atlanta VA Medical Center, use of computer-based technology will provide instrumental help and emotional support to caregivers who live in remote areas or to those who cannot leave a patient alone.
The Tampa VA Medical Center and the Miami VA Healthcare System are working on a collaborative project. In the Tampa area, the current program will be expanded to provide 24-hour in-home respite care to temporarily relieve caregivers up to 14 days a year. In Miami, the program will coordinate comprehensive community-based care services, including respite, home companions, adult day care and use of emergency response system.
The VA Pacific Islands Health Care System will use the “medical foster home” model of care, in which caregivers in the community take veterans into their homes and provide 24-hour supervision. This program will take place on the islands of Kauai, Hawaii, Maui and rural areas of Oahu.
For more information, visit the Department of Veteran Affairs website.

Comments
takandles
3 days agoSuggest Removal
My father gets Aid in Dependent Care from the VA which is a big financial help. I do not work to take care of him so some of that money is suppose to be to pay me. the down side is that if I want to hire someone for respite care it comes out of my part which I need to support myself. I only get to go to the store when one of my children can come sit with him. I have not gone anyplace else in years. There needs to be more respite care for the caregivers with little or no income such as me. Here in the state of Alabama there isn' much. You have to have no or very little to get help or be rich enough to afford it. What we get from the VA it a big help but not enough.

Temporary relief from the stress and duties of caregiving.
mbsmarttext('Respite Care','bbf852d1-7af3-483e-a7b3-1067f001bd53');

Veterans Service

We Thank You for Your Service
The Department of Defense notifies VA when service members are released from active duty. Then VA sends a letter with information about VA benefits and assistance to aid transition to civilian life. You can find help with personal and family concerns, and community readjustment issues. There are also toll-free numbers, VA Web sites, and brochures to help you get the information you need.
Toll Free NumbersBenefits Information 1-800-827-1000Health Care Eligibility Information 1-877-222-8387

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This in a tribute to our World War II veterans and is passed on to our future generations for cosideration http://www.managedmusic.com/Music/PlayBeforeYouGo.php

Senate Minority Leader Richard R. Tisei and Malden Veterans Services Director John Webster this week are reminding local veterans who were called to active duty after Sept. 11, 2001 that they may be eligible for a cash bonus through the state-funded Welcome Home program.
Established by the Legislature in 2005, the Welcome Home program provides a one-time $1,000 bonus to Massachusetts soldiers for active service in Iraq or Afghanistan and a $500 bonus to those who served at least six months of active duty at home or abroad since Sept. 11, 2001.
Active service does not include active duty for training in the Army National Guard, Air National Guard, Naval Academy, or reservist training.
The bonus is available to service members who were residents of the commonwealth for at least six months prior to entry into the armed forces, and were discharged under honorable conditions.
Fewer than half of the 28,000 qualifying Massachusetts veterans have filed the necessary paperwork to receive their bonus payment.
“We want our servicemen and women to know this benefit is available to them, and we encourage them to apply,” said Tisei. “The bonus payment represents just a small token of the Commonwealth’s appreciation for those who have proudly served our country to protect the many freedoms and liberties we enjoy as Americans.”All applications must be accompanied by a certification of residence issued by the City Clerk or Election Commissioner; a copy of the service members’ discharge papers; and a signed and dated W9 form.
Application forms are available online at www.mass.gov/treasury/veteransbonus/welcomehomebonus.htm.
For more information, contact the State Treasurer’s office at 617-367-9333, ext. 350 or 505, or visit the Malden Veterans Services office at City Hall, 200 Pleasant St., Room 527, or call 781-397-7139.

Vetearns Forgotten

-- Recently, volunteers in Missouri and a handful of other states discovered the cremated remains of war veterans inside small canisters and cardboard boxes. Instead of receiving their promised military burial, these war heroes have been forgotten and left on mortuary and hospital shelves for decades. A national effort is underway to give these veterans a proper and dignified burial.