Hospice for Veterans

Virginia Hospice Veterans Partnership (VHVP)
                         

What are Hospice-Veteran Partnerships?

Hospice-Veteran Partnerships (HVP) are coalitions of Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities, community hospices, and others working together to ensure that excellent care at the end of life is available for our nation’s veterans and support is available for their families.

These coalitions can be community-based or statewide and may function independently or within an existing structure. HVP is a national program of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospice and Palliative Care Initiative.

We Honor Veterans gives hospices an opportunity to heighten their visibility in the community and document their capacity to provide expert end-of-life care to Veterans.

 WHAT:

We Honor Veterans (www.WeHonorVeterans.org) is a national hospice provider awareness campaign conducted by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) in collaboration with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The Virginia Hospice-Veteran Partnership (VHVP) is actively supporting the campaign and providing resources for Virginia hospices to participate because:

  • Almost 782,000 Veterans live in Virginia. Every year there are over 18,000 Veteran deaths in the state
  • A vast majority of Veterans are not enrolled in VA and may not be aware of end-of-life services and benefits available to them, including the Medicare Hospice Benefit and VA-paid hospice care
  • Virginia hospices can join hospice providers across the country in honoring our Nation’s Veterans and be listed on the We Honor Veterans website

WHY:

To show each hospice’s commitment to Virginia’s Veterans by displaying the We Honor Veterans logo. By becoming a We Honor Veterans Partner, Virginia hospices will be able to:

  • Build professional and organizational capacity to provide quality care for Veterans
  • Develop and/or strengthen partnerships with VA and other Veteran organizations
  • Increase access to hospice and palliative care for Veterans living in Virginia
  • Network with other hospices across the country to learn about best practice models

HOW:

Hospices can join the We Honor Veterans campaign by signing and submitting the Partner Commitment form, found at www.WeHonorVeterans.org.

Hospices can “earn their stars” and matching logo (see below) by completing activities for each of the four levels of commitment. This allows VA staff and Veterans to easily identify hospices that have made a commitment to offer veteran-specific care and services provided by a competent and highly skilled workforce.

  Recruit       Get oriented and commit to the We Honor Veterans program 
  Level 1  

Provide Veteran-centric education for staff and volunteers, and identify patients with military experience

(1 Star: We Honor Veterans)
  Level 2 

Build organizational capacity to provide quality care for Veterans,

(2 Stars: We Honor Veterans)
  Level 3 

Develop and strengthen relationships with VA medical centers and other Veteran organizations, (3 Stars: We Honor Veterans)
  Level 4   Increase access and improve quality of care for Veterans in your community, (4 Stars: We Honor Veterans)                               
                        

 

 RESOURCES:

 We Honor Veterans link provides hospices, state hospice organizations, Hospice Veteran Partnerships and VA programs with tools and resources that encourage them to: 

  • Commit to honoring Veterans at the end of life
  • Assess their current ability to serve Veterans
  • Learn more about caring for Veterans
  • Find resources to help Veterans at end of life
  • Provide veteran-centric education for staff
  • Measure quality and outcomes

Please Contact VAHPC [email protected] or the We Honor Veterans campaign: [email protected].