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>> Here are a few of the stories on this week's "V.A. News."
>> 151 mental health centers -- one for every V.A. medical
center -- are in full gear through September.
>> VHA uses Whiteboard Videos to draw attention to healthful
messaging.
>> And how the Pat Tillman Foundation has kept this veteran focused on a greater purpose.
>> I'm Catherine Llamido from V.A. interning this summer with
the VHA Office of Communications.
>> And I'm Jose Llamas with the Office of Public Affairs.
Stay with us. Catherine and I will be right back.
>> V.A. has enthusiastically begun the mental Health Summit
required under a Presidential Order issued
earlier this year. The first was at the San Francisco V.A. Medical Center.
That was followed by five other summits in July in Tomah,
Wisconsin, the Manhattan Medical Center in
New York, White River Junction, Vermont, Phoenix, and Kansas City.
All of the others are scheduled in August and September.
Check out the map on the screen to find a summit in your state.
Just point to a state and click to download the schedule.
V.A. hopes the summits build or sustain collaboration
efforts with community providers to enhance mental health and well
being for veterans and their families.
V.A. Under Secretary for Health Dr. Robert
Petzel talked to us about the summits and what he hopes they will accomplish.
>> What do V.A. and the administration hope to
accomplish with these mental health summits?
>> Meeting the health-care needs of veterans and their families is one of our highest
priorities. We have been expanding our own
resources to do that, but we also need to be collaborating
and coordinating with our community partners.
We need to engage local, faith- based, and nonprofit groups, veterans service organizations, community health centers, and
others in providing the best possible mental health care and services
to our veterans and their families. We're already successfully
collaborating with community partners to help us reach our goal of ending homelessness
amongst veterans in 2015, and we believe we can achieve similar
results with mental health care. Just as homelessness is an issue
that's too big and too complex to tackle on our own, we can't
fully address the mental health care needs of veterans and their
families if we're not working hand in hand with local communities.
That's what these summits will help us accomplish.
>> What information and resources might a veteran obtain at one of the summits?
>> We're strongly encouraging facilities to invite veterans and their families to these
summits. For veterans, these summits are an opportunity to learn more
about programs and services that are available to them through
the V.A. as well as the resources that are available to them in the community.
It's important to remember that the majority of returning service members successfully
readjust to life after deployment. But for those who need help, it's imperative we bring our combined resources
to bear in providing the care and supportive services they need,
deserve, and have earned. We need to do all we can to raise awareness of the resources
available to veterans and get rid of the stigma around seeking
mental health care. We want veterans to know that seeking treatment
for invisible wounds of war isn't a sign of weakness. It is a sign of strength.
>> V.A. recently met the administration's goal of hiring 1600 mental health
professionals in less than 9 months. What does this mean for our
veterans? How will they benefit from this?
>> Last year, we provided specialized mental health care to more than 1.3 million
veterans. That number has been rising every year, mostly because
we have improved our screen processes to identify veterans who may be in need of mental
health services. Reaching that hiring goal and filling more than 2,000 existing
vacancies means that we can better meet the needs of veterans.
We now have a workforce of more than 20,000 mental health professionals nationwide.
It's the largest mental health program in the country and one of the largest in the world.
I'm proud of all of the hard work our staff did to get these positions
filled, but that doesn't mean we're slowing our efforts. We'll continue actively recruiting to fill any vacant
mental health position. We need to make sure that veterans can get the care they
need, when they need it, where they need it.
>> Whiteboard videos have caught on as an eye-catching advertising tool from everything
from sports, entertainment, retail, and just getting your message out.
You can find all kinds of Whiteboard Videos and tutorialson how to build them on the
internet. The VHA National Center for Health Promotion has posted them
online to promote healthy living. Check out this Whiteboard Video
on the benefits of being more active.
>> Jen and Yolanda have been friends since basic training. They do almost everything
together from their usual morning coffee to checking out the latest movie.
But one thing they don't do together -- work out. Like many Americans,
Jen can't find time to exercise, or it's just not a priority.Yolanda, on the other hand, doesfind
time to work out and guess what -- she feels better, has more
energy, and sleeps better at night. What Jen doesn't realize
is that she can still find activity around the workplace like
standing instead of sitting, taking the stairs instead of the
elevator, parking further away from the entrance. She can do simple things that
will have huge, long-term impact. Some physical activity is better
than none. To achieve substantial health benefits, adults should do at
least two and a half hours per week of moderate activity. Cardio should be performed in
episodes of at least ten minutes, and it's OK to spread activity throughout the week. Health benefits include lower
risks of heart disease, diabetes, and some cancers. Regular physical activity
prevents weight gain, reduces depression, and improves sleep.
These are just a few. So be active in your own way. Carry groceries, mow the lawn,
do yoga or tai chi, walk the dog, dance, swim, or golf. All are great examples of muscle
strengthening, cardio, and stretching activities. Find what works for you.
Make the time and talk to your health-care team. Set your goals to be physically
active. V. A. Healthcare is defining excellence in the 21st century.
>> Last week, we shared a quick look at the Pat Tillman Foundation
and its Fourth Annual Leadership Summit in Chicago. We told you of the success of
the Foundation named after the NFL star and U.S. Army Ranger killed in Afghanistan in 2004. To
date, the foundation has raised funds for 290 Tillman Military Scholars
in 34 states. The newest class of Tillman Scholars was introduced at the
recent Leadership Summit. Here's a look at former Army Medic Sam Innocent,
one of those new Foundation Scholars.
>> At the 2013 Pat Tillman Foundation Leadership Summit in Chicago, scholars were gathered
together to network and were given the tools to live out the motto "Service,
learning, and action." One of these Veterans is Samuel Innocent.
>> I'm a poor kid from a single- family household in Brownsville
with my mom and my three sisters. We made the best with the best
that we had with everything that we had. I moved around a lot within
New York when I was younger. Every time we moved, the only people
that I knew in the school or in the neighborhood were always my sisters.
I just had to always adapt and make new friends. Some of them I kept for life,
some of them I learned what I had to learn, what life had thrown
my way from them, and then we kept on moving, you know?
>> Always having to adapt to a new situation, Sam eventually came to a point in his life
where he seeks stability.
>> I was at a rough point in my life in transition. I was going to
university and working at Wal-Mart, so a lot of ends didn't meet for me, so my
next and most viable option was to join the United States Army.
>> It was in the Army Sam felt the call to serve others.
>> I served seven years in the Army. Once you have that aptitude,
that instilled character to serve your nation to contribute to the greater cause, the
greater purpose. It never leaves you.
>> Sam Innocent is now a student at City College in New York.
With the scholarship paying for school, Sam has time to give back to the community he came
from.
>> I advocate on behalf of low- income neighborhoods. That's always been my niche --
to try and help people who may not have the tools or the knowledge
to kind of help themselves at first. I am a mentor in the In Arms
Reach Program, which mentors children who have at least one parent in the household who is
incarcerated. And it's usually most likely the father that's incarcerated.
So we step in and mentor. We give them tutoring. We take them out.
We kind of try to fill -- not necessarily fill the gap, but provide a buffer, an escape
almost, from the mundane of city life where kids tend to go from
school to activities that may not be conducive to what American society wants them to
do in life. We keep them off the streets. We take them bowling.
We mentor them. We show them fine dining skills, which I'm learning as I go
myself. Which fork to use is always, you know, the number one
question.
>> Service, learning, action. Sam Innocent lives these values
and with the Pat Tillman Foundation Scholarship, he will have
the help he needs to take them as far as he can.
>> "V.A. Research Currents" has a new format. Their print edition has been
redesigned and expanded and will come out four times a year.
The online edition, also redesigned, will be updated monthly.
The Summer 2013 edition of the Research and Development Newsletter is available at the
web address on the screen. The publication shares key findings, technology horizons,
ongoing research, a scan of professional journals, and career milestones
for V.A. researchers. In this edition, hormone findings point
to possible therapy for traumatic brain injury, a study that links
combat injuries to changes in the brain's cortex, Agent Orange
is linked to aggressive prostate tumors, how the V.A. Case Western Reserve
team in Ohio is working on a simple but elegant solution for preventing
pressure ulcers, ongoing research on finding ways to get older patients to move more, and
how a blue dye method may be boosting the power of colonoscopy to ward off cancer.
Download the entire "Research Currents" in PDF format and read
it online.
>> Around this time each year, Hospitals and Health Networks releases its annual "Most Wired
Hospitals Magazine" edition. Most Wire Hospitals are chosen based
on a survey of 1700 hospitals aimed at ranking hospitals that are leveraging
health information technology in new and innovative ways. A handful of V.A.'s 151 medical
centers and other health-care facilities have made previous lists.
16 V.A. health-care entities made the 2012 list. The 2013 list includes all V.A.
medical centers, health-care systems, networks, and CIO offices.
The full list of 2013's Most Wired Hospitals and the entire report can be found in the July
H&HN cover story detailing results available at www.hhnmag.com.
In a memo to V.A. facilities and system directors, Under Secretary for
Health Dr. Robert Petzel said, "The best experience possible integrating
health I.T. into our everyday processes throughout our vast health-care system has helped us
to accomplish that goal. This recognition in this year's tenth anniversary of the
introduction of V.A.' s personal health record, MyHealthyVet,
indicate we've made great strides in accomplishing our goals and we're
eager to build on this progress. All V.A. medical centers, health
systems, VSNs, and OIT organizations may use the Most Wired trademark logo in their
marketing programs."
>> Did you know one of the big names in social media recently gave V.A. a big Facebook compliment
for its fight to end veteran homelessness? Craig Newmark is the creator of
Craig's List. The technology mogul visited V.A. Central Office last month
to talk about his support of veterans and a desire to maximize that support.
When Newmark returned home to California, he posted this on his own webpage, Craig Connects.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs awarded almost $300 million in grants for homeless
and low-income assistance efforts last week, three times what the agency spent on that
program last year. That's big, reminding us to all lend a hand.
>> That's all we have for this show. Thanks for tuning in today.
I'm Catherine Llamido.
>> And I'm Jose Llamas. Have a great day and rest of the week.