Establishing a Person-Centered Culture in a VA Nursing Home

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by JOHN DAVY

The Veterans Administration has taken up the model of person-centered care, asking administrators throughout its health care system to modify their facilities and train their staff accordingly. Staff from the VA’s newly-renamed Haley’s Cove Community Living Center (HCCLC) in Tampa, Florida recently published a case study on their own shift to the patient-centered model.

HCCLC assigned an ethics committee responsible for providing oversight and education on patient autonomy, and which reviews ethical issues that arise in providing care. The case study provides examples, including a resident asking to stay outside on the patio on sleepless nights. The case study presents how the committee and staff established a plan to encourage the resident’s autonomy without putting him or other residents at risk. Other examples include allowing residents more choice in diet and dining, and providing support for residents who want to dine out.
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Updated: Procedures for Implementing Veteran Directed Home and Community Based Services

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The VD-HCBS program provides veterans the opportunity to receive home and community-based services that enable them to avoid institutionalization and continue to live in their homes and communities. The Procedures for Implementing Veteran Directed Home and Community-Based Services describes requirements and procedures for implementing VD-HCBS locally.

Recruiting Veterans with Disabilities: Perceptions in the Workplace SHRM Poll - Disability.gov

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How do organizations perceive on-the-job performance of veterans with disabilities? Nearly three-quarters of organizations agreed (responded “strongly agree” or “agree”) that, in general, veterans with disabilities perform on the job as well as any other employee. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in collaboration with ILR – Employment and Disability Institute, Cornell University conducted a poll about recruiting veterans with disabilities, awareness of resources for employers to find qualified job applicants who are veterans with disabilities, diversity programs and more. The poll can be downloaded in PowerPoint format.
Employers who want to include Veterans and wounded warriors in their recruitment and hiring initiatives should check out the Veterans Hiring Toolkit on the America's Heroes at Work website. The National Resource Directory is a good resource for Veterans looking jobs, job training and career counseling. Veterans and military families should also read the Veterans/Military section of this blog and this email sent out by Disability.gov last Veterans Day: http://sharing.govdelivery.com/bulletins/GD/USODEP-106AB8

Posted by Diana Z. on Jan 15, 2011 5:26:04 PM in Employment, Veterans & Militar

Disability.gov

HCBS / More Info:Caregivers of Veterans – Serving on the Homefront

Summary

While caregivers of veterans face similar situations as family caregivers in general, they also have unique challenges. The study reveals how providing care affects these caregivers’ lives, what organizations and information sources have been helpful to them, and what programs and services would support and assist them. Attached are links to the Full Report, Executive Summary in English and Spanish, Press Release, and a Key Findings Fact Sheet.

Available Files

• Full Report PDF (1,224K, 84 pages)
• Executive Summary-English PDF (548K, 20 pages)
• Executive Summary-Spanish PDF (799K, 20 pages)
• Key Findings PDF (38K, 3 pages)
• Press Release PDF (137K, 4 pages)
• Website Off-site link

Calling All Businesses – Hire More Veterans with Disabilities - Disability.gov

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By Guest Blogger Bill Lawson (U.S. Army, Ret.), National President of Paralyzed Veterans of America

Most people would agree that America’s Veterans with disabilities – those who have served and sacrificed for our freedoms – clearly deserve a fair shot at what is at the heart of the American dream, a good job with a good company.

Yet as we mark National Disability Employment Awareness Month, the unemployment statistic for Veterans with severe disabilities is a startling 85 percent.

How can we work together to change this picture and to turn this grim statistic around? How can we bring the collective power of the public and private sectors together to improve the quality of paralyzed Veterans’ lives while also improving business’ bottom line?

At Paralyzed Veterans of America (http://www.pva.org/), we decided to meet this challenge head on through our Mission: ABLE initiative (www.mission-able.com) – helping those who wore the uniform and were seriously injured get good jobs and careers.

We invested in a vocational rehabilitation program, designed to empower Veterans with disabilities with the services and tools they need to reintegrate into the job market – while matching them with businesses and organizations with career positions.

The program – with offices in Richmond, VA; Minneapolis, MN; San Antonio, TX; Long Beach, CA and Boston, MA – was established through an innovative public-private partnership between Paralyzed Veterans of America, businesses and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In fact, our sixth office will open its doors, at no cost to tax payers, just after Veterans Day next month and is based at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Georgia.

We have helped hundreds of Veterans with disabilities through this program and have developed working relationships with more than 300 employers. Of those helped, 120 have already obtained new careers with numerous employers. 63 program clients are Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq.

There are three elements that work to make the Mission: ABLE initiative a success: connecting with Veterans, connecting with businesses and changing perceptions.

The program receives clients in a number of ways, from visiting newly injured patients to word of mouth. But the most important thing is that the program proactively reaches out to the Veterans, often meeting them early in the rehabilitation process, engaging patients, their families and outpatients alike and publicizing the program at events and in the media. With our offices located in VA spinal cord injury (SCI) centers, we maximize vocational rehabilitation exposure to the SCI Veterans and service providers.

Our voc rehab counselors network with Chambers of Commerce, community organizations (such as Rotary), job fairs and Veterans employment coordinators. They attend meetings and reach out to local and national employers to develop a network of business leaders who want to hire America’s Veterans.

For Veterans with disabilities, career opportunities can change their expectations of what comes next for them. With encouragement and help, they feel empowered to take the rights steps to finding a good job and fulfilling career.

For businesses, Veterans make great employees. They are disciplined, focused, reliable, hard working, team players and much more. In addition to working with Veterans, Mission: ABLE initiative staff members also spend time educating employers on working with people with disabilities. We complete a work assessment of the position to ensure we provide a good fit for the employer. We also provide information on tax and other incentives that vary by state for hiring people with disabilities. Plus, the program is recognized as an approved “employer network” (EN) by the Social Security Administration.

The truth is, hiring more Veterans with disabilities is a win, win for our country. Those who served secure good careers; employers get great employees; and, in turn, our economy becomes stronger.
It’s a strategy that helps empower America’s best with everything they need to live full, self-sufficient and productive lives. It’s a strategy that’s good for business and great for our nation.

Employers: America needs you to hire more paralyzed and disabled Veterans!

Bill Lawson (U.S. Army, Ret.) of Woodward, Oklahoma was elected National President of Paralyzed Veterans of America at its 64th Annual Convention in August. He is a staunch advocate for Veterans and people with disabilities.

Posted by Diana Z. on Oct 27, 2010 12:09:01 PM in Employment, Guest Blogger, Veterans & Military

Calling All Businesses – Hire More Veterans with Disabilities - Disability.gov

Nation’s First Green House Project for Veterans Breaks Ground | ChangingAging.org

from ChangingAging blog

Several hundred veterans, local officials and eldercare advocates attended the groundbreaking ceremony last week for the nation’s first Green House Project home built exclusively for U.S. Veterans Affairs in Danville, Ill.
Local media called it “momentous” and “historic”.

Click below for a video.
Nation’s First Green House Project for Veterans Breaks Ground | ChangingAging.org

Vets group wants GOP ex-senator fired from debt panel over benefits comments - The Hill's On The Money

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeBy Walter Alarkon
A group of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans called on President Obama to fire Alan Simpson from the White House fiscal commission for suggesting that veterans getting federal medical benefits are adding to the country’s debt problem.

VoteVets.org, which often works with liberal groups, seized on Simpson’s statement this week questioning a recent Obama administration rule that would expand medical benefits for Vietnam veterans and cost $42 billion over the next decade. The rule calls for disability awards for veterans exposed to Agent Orange and suffering from heart disease.

Simpson, the Republican co-chairman of Obama’s debt panel, told The Associated Press, "The irony [is] that the veterans who saved this country are now, in a way, not helping us to save the country in this fiscal mess."
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Social Security for Wounded Warriors Webinar

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From the Social Security Administration:

Social Security for Wounded Warriors Webinar

Please join us on November 4 for our national webinar Social Security for Wounded Warriors. During the webinar, you can learn more about our benefit programs and the expedited processing of disability claims available to our nation's Wounded Warriors. The expedited process is used for military service members who become disabled while on active military service on or after October 1, 2001, regardless of where the disability occurs.

We welcome service members, their families and friends, and those that advocate on their behalf to participate in this seminar.

The webinar will be on November 4, 2009, at 2:00 p.m. EST. To RSVP for the webinar, please visit: http://www.socialsecurity.gov/survey/woundedwarriorsrsvp.htm. You will have the option of submitting questions in advance of the webinar with your RSVP.

We also ask that you share the information about the webinar with your members, colleagues, clients, and any others who may be interested.

I hope that you will join us and I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this important program with you.

Sincerely,

Cheri Arnott Parlaman
Office of External Affairs
Social Security Administration

S. 1753: A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase assistance for disabled veterans who... (GovTrack.us)

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A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase assistance for disabled veterans who are temporarily residing in housing owned by a family member, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen. Bernard Sanders [I-VT]

Cosponsors:

Text

Status:
Introduced Oct 5, 2009
Referred to Committee on Veterans Affairs

More Information

Bill Updates