For Immediate Release
May 7, 2020
NHPCO’s We Honor Veterans Program and Department of Veterans Affairs Expand Partnership to Provide Grant Funding for Trauma-Informed Care for Veterans on Hospice Initiative
New initiative will focus on hospice protocols for Veteran-related issues, training staff, and collaborating with VA telemental health services
(Alexandria, VA) – We Honor Veterans, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in conjunction with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is pleased to announce that their grant-funded work has been expanded to include efforts aimed at providing telemental health services to Veterans, including a pilot triage mechanism to screen referrals to VA’s PTSD Consultation Program, and administering a competitive bid process in which thirteen state-wide partner organizations have been selected to receive funding for the Trauma-Informed Care for Veterans on Hospice Initiative.
This initiative has been mandated by Congress to support efforts to improve access to key resources and services available from the VA and to disseminate key trainings on trauma-informed care as provided through the We Honor Veterans program. Grant recipients will facilitate Veteran-specific training on PTSD, Moral Injury, and suicide prevention; implement structured hospice protocols and guidelines specific to the provision of trauma-informed care; pilot a triage mechanism within We Honor Veterans to screen referrals and promote access to VA telemental health services; and share programmatic data.
“The Trauma-Informed Care for Veterans on Hospice Initiative will offer state-based hospice and palliative care organizations tools to help local VA facilities and community-based hospice providers collaborate and improve upon the person-centered, interdisciplinary care Veterans and their families receive at the end of life,” said NHPCO President and CEO Edo Banach.
The organizations receiving grant funding to participate in this initiative are:
- Association for Home and Hospice Care of North Carolina (AHHC)
- California Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHAPCA)
- Care Solutions Network of Ohio
- Georgia Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (GHPCO)
- Home Health and Hospice Association of Utah (HHAU)
- Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State
- Illinois Hospice & Palliative Care Organization
- Louisiana-Mississippi Hospice & Palliative Care Organization’s VA Taskforce
- Maine Hospice Council, Inc
- Ohio Council for Home Care and Hospice (OCHCH) & The Center for Community Based Care (CCBC)
- Pennsylvania Hospice and Palliative Care Network
- The South Carolina Home Care & Hospice Association (SCHCHA)
- Texas & New Mexico Hospice Organization/Hospice Veterans Partnership
The grants will enable these state hospice and palliative organizations and coalitions to connect Veterans to trauma-informed, compassionate and person-centered care. This is critical, as the vast majority of Veterans are not currently enrolled in VA health care and may not be aware of end-of-life services and benefits available to them, including the Medicare Hospice Benefit, VA-paid hospice care and VA telemental health services that can be delivered in the Veteran’s home while on hospice.
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Media Contact:
Katherine Kemp Director, Veterans Services
Ph: 703-837-3123
