The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is partnering with community and Veterans groups, nationally and locally, to raise awareness of Whole Health and how it is different than traditional approaches to care. The Whole Health program is the VA’s holistic approach to care that supports individuals’ health and well-being.
Providing holistic care that is attentive to patients’ physiological and psychosocial needs is foundational to hospice care. We Honor Veterans has highlighted tools from the VA’s Whole Health program that hospice and palliative care providers can employ to support patient and caregivers’ overall well-being.
Whole Health centers around what matters to the individual, not what is the matter with the individual. By putting Veterans at the center of their care, Whole Health helps Veterans make more informed decisions, adopt healthy behaviors, have positive healthcare encounters, and achieve better health outcomes. Whole Health provides tools applicable for Veterans at every life stage, many of these tools can be adopted by hospice and palliative care providers to meet the unique needs that Veterans, and their loved ones, encounter at end-of-life.
Whole Health supports physical health and overall well-being for Veterans. Check out these Veteran stories to learn about the impact embracing Whole Health has had for countless Veteran patients!
Whole Health Stories from the VA
Veteran Looks to Higher Power to Cope with Grief
Working with a Whole Health coach, Veteran Starlette Price tapped into her own faith while coping with grief.
Veterans Find Pain Relief Through Acupuncture
U.S. Army Veteran Joe Knight found pain relief using battlefield acupuncture.
Robotic Pets Benefit Veteran Patients
Community Living Center staff in North Carolina use robotic pets to help dementia patients rekindle good memories and boost mood.
The following resources can be integrated into community providers’ practices to connect Veterans with Whole Health.
- Expand Your Knowledge: Whole Health applies complementary and integrative health approaches to treatment plans for specific conditions. Understanding the latest research on complementary and integrative health adds to providers’ repertoire and can be a source of hope for patients and their families. Read about the latest research on treating pain, mental distress, and other conditions with complementary and integrative approaches here!
- Introduce the Circle of Health: The Circle of Health helps individuals explore connections between important aspects of their life, health, and well-being. Improving one area can benefit other areas and influence an individual’s overall physical, emotional, and mental health. Use this interactive tool to initiate and guide conversations about the connections between physical health and other aspects of life.
- Refer to a Well-Being Program: Most VA medical centers offer a 2-hour Introduction to Whole Health and a multi-session course, Taking Charge of My Life and Health, led by trained Whole Health peer facilitators, partners, or coaches. Referring Veteran family and friends to these interactive sessions can help these Veterans set goals and focus on determining what they want out of their health and life. Find your nearest VA’s Whole Health Facility Contact.
- Assess Well-Being: Providers can consider implementing the Well-Being Signs, a three-question screening tool designed to provide a quick and easy way to assess how Veterans are doing in their daily lives. Check out the Well-Being Signs fact sheet here!
Check out the Whole Health fact sheet to learn about the many tools and resources offered through Whole Health.
Supporting Hospice and Palliative Care Providers’ Whole Health
As healthcare employees committed to providing high-level, specialized care to Veteran patients and their families, it is important that WHV’s hospice partner providers give themselves the same care and attention that they offer to patients.
The following resources are tools offered by the VA that can help providers manage stress and promote their Whole Health today and every day.
- Access Whole Health on your device: The Whole Health App is a free, easy to use tool created for both Veterans and providers who are ready to take the next step in their Whole Health journey
- Practice Gratitude: One of the greatest contributing factors to overall happiness and well-being is the amount of gratitude that a person experiences. Learn how to create a gratitude practice here!
- Get support: Protect your health and well-being by connecting with easily-accessible peer support through the Physician Support Line. Affordable, confidential counseling is also available to healthcare providers through The Emotional PPE Project and The Therapy Aid Coalition.
Check out the Employee Whole Health Educational Tools fact sheet for more tools!
Integrating Whole Health into WHV Requirements
Relevant information and educational content from VA’s Whole Health initiative can be used to meet your organization’s requirements for achieving your next WHV level! Ideas for incorporating Whole Health into your organization’s commitment to caring for Veterans at end of life include:
- Host an event to review the WHV Webinar, Compassion Fatigue, Resiliency Building, and Employee Whole Health, with your hospice staff!
- Assign staff to watch PsychArmor’s Conversations with Caregivers and Families: Supporting YOUR Whole Health Journey to meet your WHV staff education requirement
- Encourage staff, Veteran patients, and caregivers to learn more about holistic approaches to pain management by listening to Whole Health and Pain Management. This podcast series was developed by the VA to provide education and tools for those suffering with chronic pain.
- Spread the word about VA’s Whole Health by including information and resources on VA’s Whole Health in your next WHV community engagement event. For instance, introduce Well Being Signs as a tool for your community’s hospital or home health agency to implement.
- Lead a discussion on VA’s Whole Health tools in your next Hospice-Veteran Partnership meeting!
Be sure to review the level-specific requirements for achieving each level within WHV with Earn Your Stars and be sure to share with us how you integrated Whole Health in unique ways.
Want more information on VA’s Whole Health? Contact your nearest VA facility’s Whole Health contact. For more information supporting the Veterans in your care holistically, visit our Working for Veterans section.
