In a seemingly odd, but -- one would hope -- nonetheless proactive move -- the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is now placing outgoing calls to in a nationwide campaign to inform and connect returning combat veterans with the services the VA provides. The calls, which are being outsourced to a provider called EDS, are initiated by the VA and follow a very specific, and laudable intention, In a PR blurb published on the Web at TCRNet, the following information was provided about the program:
The Combat Veteran Call Center is expected to make more people aware of health care and benefits eligibility for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s the first task order awarded under the General Services Administration’s $2.5 billion USA Contact contract vehicle, according to EDS.
Calls to veterans began on May 1 and plans include reaching out to nearly 570,000 recent wartime veterans over the next six months. The campaign will initially focus on roughly 17,000 veterans who, based on their wartime injuries or illnesses, are considered candidates for care management.
The second phase will include contacting about 550,000 Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans who have not yet enrolled for VA health care services."
Additionally, "Officials at the company say EDS phone representatives will make initial calls to veterans to complete interview that will assess their needs. Representatives also will provide information about available VA health care services and benefits. Follow-up calls will also be completed to ensure that the veteran has had his or her needs met."
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At least one Veterans Service Officer I spoke with, while praising the existence of this program, also cautioned that its emphasis on prioritizing contact with OIF/OEF veterans over those of previous wars, could have the unintended consequence of creating friction between Vietnam veterans and Iraq and Afghanistan veterans -- groups which have been reasonably supportive of each others' existence, so far. In fact, Vietnam veterans have been incredibly gracious about seeing that veterans of more recent conflicts get the help they feel was denied to them. So any move that pits the two groups against each other in triaging care runs the risk of causing unnecessary friction and competition for what amounts to limited resources. And speaking of limited resources -- although the proactive calling is in some ways a good idea (and positive PR for the frequently embattled agency) -- more and different solutions are desperately needed. Examples include: hiring more psychotherapists, exploring treatments other than drugs and group therapy, making sure patients get seen quickly, expanding services to include outreach and education for family members, and freeing up some cash for paying private providers who are now giving their time for free, to make sure veterans get seen. Oh, and eliminating the stigma of mental health care to career veterans, who are sometimes afraid to be seen for the impact it might have on their career advancement. We're not even gonna mention the "shhh!!!" email here -- or the tendency to want to call PTSD by any other name including adjustment disorder -- there's enough about that in the news already.
