BAVF - Sgt. Shaft Column - October 21, 2014

Blinded American Veterans Foundation - PO Box 65900 - Washington DC 20035-5900

Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 10/21/2014 Caricature of Sgt. Shaft

Dear Sgt. Shaft

I am a Veteran and current graduate student at Washington State University (Community Counseling Program), who is carrying out a survey on veterans, and their perceptions of and attitudes towards Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. This survey has met exemption criteria from Washington State University's Institutional Review Board. It is my belief that if we as veterans speak as a group through this survey, places that provide veteran services for PTSD like the V.A. will listen, and will add our suggestions and preferences for treatment/healing to programs intended to help veterans. I am asking for your assistance in spreading the word about our survey among fellow veterans.

The survey is open to anyone who has served in the military. They do not need to have been deployed or to have PTSD to participate in the survey. Below is a letter with more information about the survey and a link to the online version of the survey (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/veteransequinesurvey)

Thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Matthew Hale, BA.
Greg Urquhart, BA.
Phyllis Erdman, Ph.D.

Dear Matthew
Good luck on your veteran’s project.

Shaft Notes

Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) will hold its 2014 annual meeting and other events Oct. 27-28 in Arlington, Va. Highlights include a free military career fair, informational seminars and the Community Heroes Award Night that spotlights the efforts of local citizens and uniformed servicemembers who support troops, military families, and veterans. The keynote speaker is Gen. John M. Paxton Jr., assistant commandant of the Marine Corps. Senator Elizabeth Dole will receive the MOAA Military Family National Service Award.

Dole is the inaugural recipient of The MOAA Military Family National Service Award. The award, presented by the MOAA Military Family Initiative, will be given annually and recognizes an individual or organization that has consistently demonstrated extraordinary commitment to the sustained health, vitality, and financial security of America’s uniformed service families.

All events will be held at the Sheraton Pentagon City Hotel, 900 S. Orme St., Arlington, Va. For more information and to register, please visit http://www.moaa.org/2014AnnualMeeting/#registration.

ANNUAL MEETING AGENDA:

Monday, Oct. 27, 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Council and Chapter Levels of Excellence Award Dinner. Top MOAA chapters will receive four- and five-star streamers from Gen. John H. Tilelli Jr., USA (Ret), chairman of MOAA’s board of directors. Cost is $35 a person.

Tuesday, Oct. 28, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.: Military- and Spouse-Friendly Career Fair. The free career fair is open to active duty, retired, former, National Guard and Reserve servicemembers — officer and enlisted — and their spouses (pre-career fair seminars begin at 8 a.m.).

3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.: The Annual Meeting of the Membership. The meeting is free and open to all MOAA members.

6 p.m. – 9 p.m.: The MOAA Community Heroes Awards. In its fourth year, the event will recognize individuals and groups who have demonstrated exceptional support to the wounded military and veterans’ communities, including wounded warriors and their families in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Master of Ceremonies is Scott Thuman, Emmy-award-winning senior political reporter covering the White House and Capitol Hill for ABC7 News and News Channel 8. The Presenting Sponsors are United Healthcare Military & Veterans, USAA is a Patron sponsor, The United Association of Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada is a Silver sponsor and Health Net, is a Bronze level sponsor. Cost is $45 a person (free for currently serving.)

To register and for more information, visit http://www.moaa.org/2014AnnualMeeting/#

The annual MOAA Community Heroes Awards spotlight the extraordinary efforts of everyday citizens, uniformed servicemembers and military spouses who support troops, military families and veterans.

The award is a signed and numbered print of "No Generation Left Behind," an original by artist Jerry Frech. He describes his painting as a tribute to Vietnam veterans who fought and rallied together so veterans of all wars will never be forgotten. In this piece, there is a contemporary war veteran representing the current conflicts being carried off the battlefield by two Vietnam veterans. See more at: http://www.moaa.org/

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that its national telehealth programs served more than 690,000 Veterans during fiscal year 2014. That total represents approximately 12 percent of the overall Veteran population enrolled for VA healthcare, and accounted for more than 2 million telehealth visits. Of that number, approximately 55 percent were Veterans living in rural areas with limited access to VA healthcare. With more Veterans seeking health care, telehealth is rapidly becoming an attractive option, especially for those Veterans who don’t have a VA health care facility close to home.

"We have to adapt to meet Veterans wherever their needs are," said VA Secretary Robert A. McDonald. "A brick-and-mortar facility is not the only option for health care. We are exploring how we can more efficiently and effectively deliver health care services to better serve our Veterans and improve their lives. Telehealth is one of those areas we have identified for growth."

Currently, there are more than 44 clinical specialties offered to Veterans through VA’s telehealth programs. One program at the Miami VA schedules close to 90 clinic connections every week for dermatology, eye exams, the women Veterans program, podiatry, mental health and other clinical specialties.

One tangible example of the success of VA’s telehealth program is its burgeoning TeleAudiology program because of large population of Veterans living with hearing loss. The TeleAudiology program has grown from 1,016 Veterans in fiscal year 2011 to more than 10,589 in fiscal year 2014.

For more information about VA’s telehealth program, visit www.telehealth.va.gov/.

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-257-5446 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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