Madison VA Hospital and Clinics LGBTQ+ Newsletter - Sept 2023

Veterans Health Administration sent this bulletin at 09/22/2023 04:32 PM EDT

Madison VA Hospital & Clinics

LGBTQ+ Veterans Program Manager Update

Greetings and happy almost-fall!

Just an update on some of our LGBTQ+ events and information. Please notice the end message - if you are willing to share your story to fellow Veterans, please let us know. We love to brag on our Veterans and there are others who can learn from your experiences.

Stop by and see us at these upcoming community events, including:

Janesville PRIDE Impact Convention
Saturday, October 14, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.
Holiday Inn Express, 3100 Wellington Place, Janesville, WI

Wayne D Horner Memorial Homeless Stand Down-Madison
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Salvation Army of Dane County, Madison, WI

Top of Illinois Veteran’s Stand Down
Friday, October 27, 2023
Nordlof Center, Rockford, IL

We also wanted to let you know about our upcoming staff training:

New Medical Support Assistants Sexual & Gender Minority Affirming Language Training
Ongoing bi-weekly throughout the year

For general information about resources offered at the Madison VA Hospital and Clinics, visit our LGBTQ+ Veteran Care website. As always, I am here to help navigate LGBTQ+ resources and answer questions for you. Feel free to reach out any time.

Sincerely,

Margo Edge
LCSW, LGBTQ+ Veterans Care Coordinator
William S. Middleton Memorial VA Hospital & Clinics

Get to Know your VA Staff

Alison Kruse-Bowman, MHA, BSN, RN

Nursing is a second career for me after working as a health care administrator for over 12 years. I come from a long line of nurses in my family and have always had a passion to care for others, which led me into nursing eight years ago.

I appreciate the unique individuality of each person and the stories behind them. A core tenant of my nursing practice is respecting the true, authentic self of each patient I take care of without judgement or assumptions.

That is what led me to the pronouns project that I led on the 3B inpatient unit at the Madison VA Hospital. (See below story) I really enjoyed working on this project and hope it has improved the health care experience of the Veterans I work with.

I have recently transitioned to a nursing role in our emergency room and look forward to this new adventure.

Pronoun Project to Better Serve Vets

Alison Kruse-Bowman created the Veteran Pronoun Project as a way to promote a respectful, inclusive and welcoming environment for all Veterans when they are admitted to the Madison VA Hospital.

For this project, all Veterans were asked their pronouns at the time of their admission to our 3B inpatient unit and were able to have their preferred name and pronouns displayed on the whiteboard in their inpatient room. Nursing staff were encouraged to share their preferred name and pronouns on the Veteran’s whiteboards as well as wear badge buddies with their pronouns on them.

Unit champions were identified to provide ongoing support and education to staff to ensure successful long-term outcomes for all the Veterans we serve. We are currently working on an implementation plan to transition this model to the rest of our inpatient units in our hospital.

World Sexual Health Day - September 4th

Sexual health is an important part of your overall health and well-being. Being free to talk about sexual health with your partners and health care providers is vital to your health care. All Veterans should have a sexual health assessment to identify goals and potential sexual health issues such as pain during sexual activity, difficulty with sexual functioning, family building and strategies for prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV.

VA offers an array of preventative sexual health options including HIV/STI screenings, providing external and internal condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and more. The CDC recommends that every sexually active adult be informed that PrEP is highly effective at preventing HIV and is available for anyone who asks for it.

Create a Gratitude Practice

Sometimes it can feel difficult or even impossible to see the positives in your life when you are feeling down. When you consider what you are grateful for, it can help you get unstuck, get well quicker and even feel more energetic. Practicing gratitude may also take practice, no pun intended.

There are many ways to start. Some set time right away in the morning before they get out of bed to reflect on what they are grateful for. Others may keep a gratitude journal or a gratitude jar as a way to “count your blessings”.

Our Whole Health Program is another great resource that can help explore ways to incorporate gratitude into your daily life.

Did You Know...

According to the NYC LGBT Historic Cites Project, the first U.S. gay rights public demonstration was on September 19, 1964, which took place outside the U.S. Army Building in lower Manhattan. This demonstration spoke out against the military’s treatment of gay people.

LGBTQ+ service members have experienced discrimination, rejection, abuse and have often been discharged under dishonorable conditions based on their LGBTQ+ identity. Two years ago Secretary McDonough announced that Veterans who were given other than honorable discharges based on homosexual conduct, gender identity or HIV status receive the benefits that they earned. Veterans can apply to upgrade their discharge status by going to the Discharge Upgrade Wizard.

Additionally, Veterans who have been discharged under other than honorable conditions based on sexual orientation, gender identity or HIV status alone are eligible for VA health care and benefits including those who do not yet have military correction upgrades on their DD-214s. This is known as military service determined to be “honorable for VA purposes.”

Share Your Story

Do you have interest in sharing your story? The Madison VA Public Affairs team is always looking to highlight our Veterans on social media, in newsletters and on other platforms. No matter your journey, there is someone who can learn from your experiences. We are proud of YOU - please consider letting us share your journey. To discuss the possibility, contact LGBTQ+ Veterans Care Coordinator Margo Edge (Margo.Edge@va.gov, 608-256-1901 ext. 10762) or Public Affairs Chief Jim Bove (James.Bove@va.gov, 608-256-1901 ext.13484).

William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital & Clinics

2500 Overlook Terrace, Madison WI 53705

Website: www.madison.va.gov
Facebook: Madison VA Hospital

To contact Madison VA, please email us at VHAMADWebMaster@va.gov
(Please do not reply to this email as the account is not monitored.)


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