Hospice care for veterans needed

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http://www.timesleader.com/living/20080127_27BillSmithColumn_ART.html
BILL SMITH

Hospice care for veterans needed; on rise BILL SMITH VIEWS ON VETERANS
ACCORDING TO A Department of Veterans Affairs news release dated Jan. 8, 2008, the VA is providing hospice and palliative care to a growing number of veterans throughout the country as the need continues to rise for veterans’ care and comfort at the end of life.

The VA contracts with community-based hospice programs to enhance the VA’s ability to provide this critical service when and where needed. “Whenever veterans receive their health care, the VA has a system in place to address their hospice and palliative care needs,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. James. B. Peake. “We are dedicated to providing compassionate care and personal assistance to the thousands of veterans and their families who face terminal illnesses.”

Nearly 9,000 veterans were treated in designated hospice beds at VA facilities in 2007, and thousands of other veterans were referred to community hospices to receive care in their homes. The number of veterans treated in VA in-patient hospice beds increased by 21 percent in 2007. In addition, the average daily number of veterans receiving hospice care in their homes that is paid by the VA increased by 30 percent during the past year. As a result of the large number of World War II and Korean-era veterans and the number of veterans over the age of 85 expected to triple from 2000 through 2010, the need for hospice care is expected to continue to rise and be a needed service.

The proportion of Vietnam-era veterans over the age of 65 will continue to increase through 2014, when Vietnam veterans will account for nearly 60 percent of all veterans in that age group. To date, the VA has partnered with community hospice programs in 35 states to promote hospice services that are not provided directly by VA staff. These partnerships help veterans transition from VA hospitals to their homes in the community. Palliative care adds a focus on quality of life and comfort to veterans with life-limiting illness, and their families. Palliative care consultation teams include physicians, nurses, social workers and chaplains. Additional support may be provided by pharmacists, rehabilitation therapists, recreation therapists, mental health professionals and other specialists. The VA provides palliative care consultation teams at all of its hospitals. Nearly half of all veterans who died in VA facilities received care from a palliative care team prior to their deaths.

There have been many times I have been asked about such programs and whether they are available at local VA levels. This type of inquiry is made when ever all other avenues of care have long passed and direction and treatment is desperately needed. Information can be obtained by contacting the VA on the Internet at http://www.va.gov. The veterans benefits counselor at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center locally can provide the latest information and protocol involving this expansion of VA services. These services began in 2001 when the National Hospice-Veteran Partnership Initiative began to build partnerships between VA facilities and community hospice providers and is funded in part by the VA and by nonprofit groups such as the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Advanced Illness Care Coordination Center.

“The VA is committed to helping veterans spend their final days with dignity and comfort, in the setting that best fits their needs and interests,” said veterans affairs secretary Peake.


Bill Smith writes for and about veterans. Write to him c/o The Times Leader, 15 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 1871 1-0250 or leave a message for him with Michele at 829-7245


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