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Senior Veteran Healthcare Needs
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COMPACT Act benefits update:
Available early 2023
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It’s flu season: remind Veterans to get their flu, COVID vaccines
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Community optometrist diagnoses Veteran’s stroke, sends him to ER
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PTSD Bytes - Therapies to provide emotional, trauma and relationship management support
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Veterans have unique healthcare needs, and these often change as they get older. We encourage you to take some time to participate in some of VA’s special educational programs to learn about some of the healthcare issues that impact older Veterans including falls, and PTSD.
With an estimated 8.9 million Veterans aged 65 and older at the end of 2020, 3.4 million Veterans in that age group used VA health care.* These Veterans served in conflicts around the world including World War II and the Korean, Vietnam and Persian Gulf Wars. Understanding the health considerations of this population will help you provide the best, most appropriate care possible to Veterans. Learn more about VA benefits for elderly Veterans.
* Veteran Population Projection Model 2020 (VetPop2020)
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Veterans’ health care benefits associated with the Veterans Comprehensive Prevention, Access to Care and Treatment Act of 2020 (COMPACT) will not be available until early 2023 and must not be offered until all mechanisms are in place to regulate and properly implement the program.
Before COMPACT benefits can be made available, VA must first publish the governing policy and enable appropriate procedures and systems to make the program fully operational.
Once COMPACT is implemented, VA will:
- Furnish or pay for treatment of eligible individuals’ emergency suicide care, including transportation costs, at a VA or non-VA facility and up to 30 days of inpatient and 90 days of outpatient care.
- Make appropriate referrals for care following the period of emergent suicide care.
- Determine eligibility for other VA services and benefits.
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Refer eligible individuals for appropriate VA programs and benefits following the period of emergent suicide care.
VA’s methodical effort to enable Veterans’ access to care through COMPACT will ensure both VA and community providers have standardized procedures for intake, care continuity, benefit coordination, and many other components necessary to successfully implement this program.
More information will be made available as we prepare to implement a program to assist Veterans when they are most vulnerable.
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With flu season upon us, please remind your Veteran patients that flu and COVID booster vaccines are available at no-cost through VA. Now is a great time to get both!
The latest flu and COVID-19 vaccine information is located online, and answers to frequently asked questions about updated COVID booster vaccines are also available.
Receiving updated flu and COVID vaccinations are the best way for Veterans to protect themselves and others from getting these illnesses. Veterans can safely receive an updated COVID-19 booster and their flu shot during the same visit - at the VA and in their community!
Note: Only Veterans enrolled in VA health care can get flu shots at VA health facilities. Veterans should be advised to call before they visit a VA health facility to make sure both vaccines are available.
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Jesse Dominguez, CCN Region 4 optometrist, has served Veterans under VA community care since 2015. He and his staff consider it a special honor to care for Veterans at his practice in Phoenix.
One memory Dominguez will never forget is the experience with a long-term Veteran patient with glaucoma. The patient wasn’t feeling well one day and was seeing double vision, so his wife brought him into the office.
Although an extremely busy day, Dominguez dropped everything to check on him without an appointment.
After a brief discussion, Dominguez realized the Veteran was having a stroke and sent him straight to the emergency room.
“To this day, that Veteran patient still says, ‘Dr. Dominguez saved my life.’ I see it differently,” he added. “I just took care of someone important to me. That’s what we’re supposed to do. They’re our heroes, not the other way around.”
“I truly believe every day is Veterans Day,” Dominguez said. “These Veteran patients don’t just come to get glasses from us. They become part of our family.”
Check out the full article about Jesse Dominguez in VA News!
Do you have a story to share? Is there another community provider on your staff you want to recommend for a “shout out” in Provider Advisor? We want to hear from you! Please send your stories and provider profile recommendations to Dina Ramon, dina.ramon@va.gov
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E D U C A T I O N & T R A I N I N G
Clinical Case Study: Falls in Older Adults
This web-based, on-demand vignette presents a clinical case study of falls in older adults.
Location: VHA TRAIN
ID#: 1104200
Credit/hours: one (1)
Accreditations: ACCME, ACCME-NP, ANCC, ACPE, JA IPCE
PTSD and Aging: PTSD in Older Veterans
This web-based course will increase awareness of the impact of PTSD in older Veterans, including unique aspects of treatment and intervention related to this population. The course also provides practitioners with practical tips and skills that may be used when working with older Veterans who experience post-trauma symptoms.
Location: VHA TRAIN
ID#: 1101748
Credit/hours: One (1)
Accreditations: ACCME, ACCME-NP, APA, ANCC, NBCC, ASWB, NYSED SW
Long COVID Webinar Series: January Preview
The January 2023 program, Definitions of Long COVID and other terms: aiming to describe the undefinable? will review updates of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVID-19 Clinical Guidelines and defining COVID. The session will feature Joan Soriano, M.D., Ph.D. Dr. Soriano works at the Dept of Respiratory Medicine of Hospital Universitario de la Princesa. He is also an Honorary Professor of Medicine at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, and Associate Professor at Universitat de les Illes Balears, in Mallorca, both in Spain.
The Long COVID Lecture Series highlights research on post-acute and long-term outcomes of COVID-19. The series began in summer 2022 within the St. Louis VA Health Care System and was conceived and developed by Uly Labilles, Ph.D, research-health science specialist, Office of Research and Development, and Ziyad A-Aly, MD, research and development service chief.
DATE: Jan. 4, 2023
LINK: https://veteransaffairs.webex.com/veteransaffairs/j.php?MTID=m46563c82a13f5c4ded68a3521ee950c2
Webinar number: 2764 939 9782
Webinar password: JbgnvD39N$5 (52468339 from phones)
To join by phone: 14043971596 USA Toll Number, access code: 276 493 99782
Trainings available through Optum and TriWest
Numerous live and on-demand webinars and trainings are offered by Optum and TriWest to fit your schedule. Check them out!
Questions? If you require assistance, please contact the VHA TRAIN Help Desk by email at vhatrain@va.gov.
How to obtain your credit completion certificate:
Once you complete a credited training, you can obtain your credential certificate(s) in four easy steps:
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Log in to VHA Train - https://vha.train.org/vha/login
- Go to “Your Learning”
- Go to “Your Certificates”
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Download your certificate
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P O D C A S T S
New episodes focus on emotional, trauma and relationship management support
"PTSD Bytes" is a weekly podcast hosted by clinical psychologist Pearl McGee-Vincent from the VA National Center for PTSD featuring an expert or innovator about how technology can support people with PTSD or other mental health concerns. Join us for “bite-sized” pieces of practical information you can use or share.
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Dr. Pearl McGee-Vincent discusses PTSD and relationships with Dr. Leslie Morland and Dr. Kayla Knopp, clinical and research psychologists at San Diego VA.
Dr. Pearl McGee-Vincent talks with Dr. Marylene Cloitre and Dr. Annabel Prins, clinical psychologists at the National Center for PTSD, about how trauma impacts emotions and relationships and use of Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) therapy. The goal of STAIR is to help people improve their lives by experiencing and expressing their feelings in a healthy way, focusing on day-to-day problems instead of trauma.
Dr. Pearl McGee-Vincent discusses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Dr. Robyn Walser. ACT helps someone accept all their thoughts and feelings, whether positive or negative; and by accepting them, learn to not avoid or be controlled by them. ACT also helps someone identify their values, to live a more meaningful life even when having unpleasant experiences.
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V E T E R A N S P O T L I G H T
This month we spotlight two Veterans who recently celebrated milestone birthdays. We thank them for their service!
Romay Davis celebrated her 103rd birthday at the end of October. She also served in World War II and is the oldest surviving member of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, also known as the “SixTripleEight.” She was one of the 855 members of the all-black female battalion that served in England and France during the war. Following her service, Davis earned a master’s degree in technology and industrial education and a Taekwondo black belt. In June of this year, Davis received a Silver Service Medallion from the National WWII Museum.
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Arthur “Curly” Talmage, of Weatherford, Texas, recently turned 100! Drafted into the Marines during World War II, Talmage spent three years in the South Pacific with the Fourth Marine Division, including service in Iwo Jima. He was also an expert horseman and received a lifetime achievement award on his birthday from the National Cutting Horse Association. |
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 Paxlovid effective against Long COVID symptoms
A study recently released by VA indicates the medication Paxlovid can reduce the risk of symptoms of “Long COVID,” which affects millions of people in the U.S. and around the world. In the interest of public health, the study, Nirmatrelvir and the risk of post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, was released before peer-review on the pre-print server medRxiv.
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 PACT Act Awareness Week
December 10-17 is PACT Act Awareness Week, highlighting VA’s focus on outreach to Veterans about this landmark health care legislation. The designation was announced by Dr. Shereef Elnahal, VHA Under Secretary for Health.
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