Real Talk: Community Health Care in Action
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Real Talk: Community Health Care in Action
Veteran Support
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Quincy invites two veterans, Frontier Nursing University faculty member Dr. Susan Piper and Post 67 Service Officer Howard Whitehead, to discuss the numerous ways you can help a veteran or yourself. 🫡❤️
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Welcome back to Real Talk Community Health Care in Action. Today we are going to talk about caring for our veterans, and joining me for that will be Frontier Faculty Member and Clinical Director for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program, Dr. Susan Piper. Dr. Piper received a Master's of Science in Nursing from Western Kentucky University in 2010, emphasizing nursing education. In 2016, she received a postmaster's certificate focused on psychiatric mental health. She received her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Murray State University in 2018. She has served 32 years in the Kentucky National Guard and was a chief nurse for the Kentucky National Guard's mobile vaccination team during the COVID-19 pandemic. And she continues to serve as chief nurse. Later on, we'll be joined by Howard Whitehead. Howard is the Post Service Officer for Woodford Post 67 and is a fully VA accredited Department Veteran Service Officer. This means he has had and continues to receive training in VA claim policies, procedures, and best practices in preparing and filing claims and can submit paperwork directly to the VA. Dr. Piper, thank you so much for joining me.
SPEAKER_00Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_02Can you first talk to me about your personal experience and how that has shaped your perspective of the needs for veterans?
SPEAKER_00Yes, so not only have I served myself and continue to serve, I am a wife of a veteran, I'm sister veterans, three brothers, all three of them served, as well as my dad, so I'm a daughter of a veteran. And I seen firsthand the impact of serving on those individuals, and then how it impacts family members.
SPEAKER_02Talk to me about why it's important to get our veterans care, not just the mental health care, but also the physical health care.
SPEAKER_00We owe our veterans a great debt for the sacrifice that they've made. And I feel as though this is just like pennies towards repaying that debt. But for our veterans, they deserve to be the healthiest that they can be. And so we need to focus on improving both their physical and their mental health care. And sometimes that's related to the care that they actually receive, sometimes that's related to the ability to receive that care.
SPEAKER_02And so, as community members and family members, what can we look for in our veterans as signs that they need help for something specific or just in general?
SPEAKER_00So physical needs are many times very apparent. You know, maybe it's um a limp, maybe it's you notice um a deficit in their movements in some way or a change in their movements. Um when it comes to um hearing, a lot of times that's easy to identify. But when we consider mental health, um, sometimes that's a little more challenging. Um it may be that you notice they become agitated more easily. It may be that um they are down, depressed, maybe um for reference you notice that they're an Eeyore, or it may be that you notice that maybe they um avoid things, right? Certain situations because that's causing them anxiety and they don't want to face or be involved in those things because of that.
SPEAKER_01And how can we get them help then? Or how can we help them?
SPEAKER_00So um a big thing is, you know, this the stigma is still there, right? We have a stigma that we have to battle related to getting um care for our veterans, specifically mental health care. Um, you know, you mentioned um Howard is gonna join this the segment a little later. Um that's an excellent resource related to starting the process for health care, mental health care. Um it may be that we need to just continue to show support and be there for them. Sometimes we have to advocate, right? We have to stand in the gap. Um, but the first step is usually the hardest.
SPEAKER_02So you're talking about their people's mental health. What misperceptions do people have about veterans' mental health?
SPEAKER_00So I you know misconceptions. Sometimes, okay, so I I guess I was trying to think about how to how to how to to go about that. Because sometimes I don't think it's it's our misconception per se, but the veterans, those that have served, those that are still serving, we push that down. We don't always speak to those things, right? Because that's what we were told. You know, you don't share. If there's a problem, you know, you only seek help if it's absolutely necessary. So it may be that you see a veteran walking around, um, and until you speak to them, you may or interact with them, you may not know that there's a problem or potentially a problem. Um because we've been told to hide it, to not disclose that. So I don't know that the misconception comes from the person or if it's the veteran themselves that's providing the cloaking device, so to speak, you know, that's cloaking what the problem, that the problem is there. I don't know, I don't know if I'm expressing that exactly how I'm wanting to.
SPEAKER_02Well, tell me, let's say I have a sibling or a brother and I'm concerned and I'm asking them they're hiding, whatever, however they're feeling, they're not sharing their whole truth. But I'm concerned about them. What do I do? What do you do?
SPEAKER_00Right. I think a a good place to start is telling them that it's gonna be okay and that you're there, right? That you're there when that when they are ready, and the importance um and the need for getting help. Because how much better can things potentially be if they do? And sometimes just knowing that they have that support, it's all it takes.
SPEAKER_02And sometimes by avoiding getting help for certain situations, it causes like a domino effect, right? Oh, absolutely. And and so how do you how do you bring that to light for them?
SPEAKER_00Speaking truth, right? Because just like um, you know, we we've heard so much about um suicide and suicide amongst our veterans, and you know, how do we how what what do we what do we do related to making a difference there, right? Um you have to just ask, you have to say, you have to speak the truth in what you're seeing. So if you see that, lay that out, but with kindness and grace. Because, you know, sometimes when you start to have those conversations, the thing that I've seen is the defense comes up, right? So immediately they go on the defense because they feel like that you're calling out the problem and um that you are you are not there to support them, that you're there because the you know that that they are the problem. Right, right. Right. So I I'm I'm sorry, I feel like I'm struggling to to say the right words.
SPEAKER_02So I think that's helpful. Yeah, no, I think that's very it makes sense to me. Um you have you have a lot of personal experience, and I know we've talked in the past and you've shared multiple presentations in the past for Frontier. Can you talk to us about or tell us a story about the difference that good care or care period can make in a veteran's life?
SPEAKER_00Sure, absolutely. So, so I well have multiple, um, but the most recent um, you know, I'm I've spoken about my brother. Um, that's probably the most recent um through the assistance of family members. Um he is um about eight years older than me, um, was always that veteran that said, no, that needs to wait for somebody else. Um, you know, you know, I'm my problems are small, you know, leave that for somebody that's more in need, kind of thing. Um, but he has suffered from PTSD for years. Um, and so through the assistance of his family members, through myself, um, through previous um battle buddies that he served with, um, we were able to get him into the VA healthcare system and um a pretty significant VA rating. Um, and now he not only receives compensation, but he receives that um mental health care that he needs. Um, another personal story is related to my husband. My husband um he a few years back suffered from some pretty serious physical um ailments, and he is an he served as an active guard soldier. He retired in 2021, um, but a couple years before that he had um he had spent several months actually in the hospital um with physical sickness, but um he suffered from um mental illness, PTSD, and for years he suffered with that. Um and even though I had tried that, you know, I mentioned, you know, that defense, I saw that every time that I attempted to speak to him about it. Um but it was around this time that he suffered this physical ailment. Um he was um he was became very aware that he suffered from PTSD because of the responses that he had to these these physical um ailments, because he was in ICU for three weeks. He was on life support, um, all the things. And then he had to go through the recovery with um occupational therapy, physical therapy. And so he not only then had myself, but I feel like as advocating for him, if I had not been there to say, my husband suffers from PTSD, they wanted to, they wanted to time down because you know, otherwise he would yank the the you know the tube out. He would um do those, you know, pull out my Vs, those type of things, um, that made the difference in his care. And as a result, then um it was brought forward. And then he began receiving care for that, right? Um it and I it it's it's challenging sometimes to be that person, you know, um because there's a lot of backlash. Um, but that's where you um, you know, if you remain present and you can endure the um the storm, um the the light on the other side is so worth it because the man that he is today, um, he's a completely different person than he was five, seven years ago because of um the care that he's received, because of the intervention that he has had, um, and then by having those that care for him to stand in support of him.
SPEAKER_02So And I just talking about your husband, and I think from both sides it's difficult. So being the person needing help and the person trying to help. And I want to note that you were a professional and it still was not, you're a professional in psychiatric mental health, and it still wasn't. You know what I and so I think everyone should give themselves grace and each other grace. Just speaking from people listening are not don't have your credentials and your experience and knowledge, and giving yourself grace and having patience with yourself, but also the person you're trying to help.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. And it's not an easy journey. It's not, especially when they are resistant and they they still believe that there's not a problem.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Talk to me about gaps um in healthcare with uh with veteran needs and and what is currently being provided. Do you see any gaps or what are those gaps?
SPEAKER_00Um absolutely. So I think we've seen lots of improvements um over the the years, um, especially when um care was opened up to community um resources, right? So instead of having to wait on the VA because the VA was so backed up, oh, I'm gonna send you to a current community care provider. Um and that I feel has made all the difference in the world. And once again, I can speak to personal on a personal level. So as I've started to enter my journey in the VA, um I have had that option. Okay, so you can see the provider within the VA system. It's gonna be two months. Or we can send you to community care, and literally it was within two weeks.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So that's the difference that we're talking. And those um, those changes are being made. But on occasion, on occasion, it's still the need to be seen within the VA system. And sometimes those are um, that's it. There's a weight, right? Um, so um, and the other deficit that I would say that I've seen, and I don't know that there are any changes being made on uh this level yet, is it's related to prescriptions, um medicines, the VA formulary um and what's available is on one level. Um, and I don't know, I don't know how quickly that's evolving. That's one thing that I cannot speak to, but on a personal level, through myself, my husband, we've had those conversations with the VA. Oh, you can't, sorry, that's not in our formulary. So um then we had to go back out to the community. And not that it then cost, you know, insanely amounts of money necessarily, but still the fact that that it couldn't be provided there. So Yeah, it was another hoop. Yeah, yes, absolutely. Yes.
SPEAKER_02Anything else you think we should share or talk about.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean I mean, there's nothing, you know, I mentioned the suicide, the fact that that's still so prevalent, um, especially compared to um non-veterans, right? It's still I I think the last statistic statistic that I saw was that um veteran compared to non-veteran, it's still like fift greater than 50% higher, right? The rate is just astronomical. Um, you know, um physical health, mental health, um both so very important, but mental health, please continue to work to fight to beat the stigma. The stigma is, I feel, still one of the greatest barriers, right? One of the greatest barriers to care. Um I would say that if you were gonna march towards something to to try to make a difference, that would be where it would fall.
SPEAKER_02And one more question for you. Um I'm gonna talk to Howard a little later, but what about resources? Resources that you have experience with personally for veterans?
SPEAKER_00Um Absolutely. So um as I've began to navigate this journey with myself, my husband, um, even my brother. So, you know, um we are in a technologically savvy world, right? So there's an app for everything. There's an app for the VA. Um, you can even submit your claim online, but I would encourage you to get assistance from someone like Howard. Um, and he'll talk a lot about that when he comes on, I'm sure. Um VA app that helps you keep in the know whether it's your um benefits, your resources, or will then connect you to what's available. Me on a personal level, as I've navigated through my healthcare journey, whether that's physical health, mental health, there are all kinds of apps that are available for resources there, whether that's nutrition, whether that's um PTSD, whether that's um just I want to engage in some mindfulness, um, there there's so many resources that the VA offers related to that type of thing too.
SPEAKER_02So thank you so much for joining me and sharing your experiences and expertise.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely. So glad I could be here.
SPEAKER_02Thank you. Now joining me is Howard Whitehead. Howard, tell me a little bit about your role and what it means to be an accredited service officer and what the Kentucky American Legion is doing.
SPEAKER_03Well, I'm the uh adjutant and post service officer at Woodford Post 67, and uh we're based out of downtown Brussels, we serve all of Woodford County. Uh a service officer's main function is to help veterans and their families with basically whatever they might need. Um, our post, of course, has uh uh uh a really sharp concern about our members, but we go beyond that. We we service any veteran um what their family might need or any questions they might have about benefits, or we've even been known to help veterans that are having financial issues with paying their electric bill or getting their car repaired so they can get to work. Um now past that as a as a VA accredited service officer, I've had training and a mentorship with some experienced service officers uh to know and know how to submit claims for VA benefits and know how those claims are processed, and if there's a denial, how to research and appeal those and uh do all we can to get veterans the benefits and their surviving families if they pass, uh get all the benefits they need.
SPEAKER_02And what would you say the biggest need you're seeing, or the biggest way that your role can help veterans now?
SPEAKER_03Wow. That that's a big question. Um The main thing is getting veterans to understand um that we're there and we're ready to help them. Um there's there's a lot of other people that claim to be helping veterans, and and there's the attorneys that are out there and they charge veterans for that. Uh then there's the flyby knights that they say they want donations and they really don't know how the system works, so they're not really pro providing a full service. Um and what they can do is come, and I don't care if they come to the American Legion, they can go to the VFW, the disabled American veterans, uh, the state has service officers, but they to get help, and they really should get help anytime they want to deal with the VA, they should go to an accredited accredited veteran service officer because we help any veteran, there's no charge, we're trained, we know how the system works, and we'll do everything we can to get them what they what they deserve. Most veterans don't even know we exist.
SPEAKER_02And what would you say the main benefit uh uh uh you're helping with?
SPEAKER_03My main thing right now is helping veterans who went to somebody else that didn't know what they were doing. And cleaning up the mess. Exactly. Um I've I've got uh more than a handful of veterans who have filed claims for 20 or even 30 conditions. Um they may or may not have been caused by service. That's part of my job is to help them figure that out. Um but they didn't send any supporting documentation or anything like that in it, so they all got denied. And they spent years readmitting and resubmitting and retrying the claims without really changing anything because they don't know how the system works. Well, I gather that information together once they finally get to me. And we put together packages with all the supporting documentations, all the required secondary forms, everything they need to give them a better chance at getting what they need.
SPEAKER_02Are there any misconceptions about your role or uh getting VA benefits?
SPEAKER_03Well, there's still a lot of folks that think that the VA wants to turn them down, and that's absolutely not the case. But that being said, the VA and their their raters and their examiners and all these other people that are involved in the process, they have rules they have to follow. The the VA and how these disabilities are handled and how the claims are handled are all governed by laws that come out of Congress. It's not up to the VA. It's not up to me. Um I I I've had more veterans than I can count say, I just don't want to mess with all that paperwork and all the foreign engineers are just gonna deny me any of it because that's what they want to do. No, that's not at all true. There are a ton of people at the VA, and I even worked at the VA for a while. I retired from the VA data center in Texas. Over 40 percent of the people working in the VA are veterans. And a large chunk of those are disabled veterans. Uh-huh. So we know what the veterans are dealing with. And we have this deep desire to do all we can to help as a VA employee or as a as a service officer. That's what we're here for. But we have to operate within the confines of the law.
SPEAKER_02Right. And there are processes and procedures to getting there.
SPEAKER_03There's a lot of them.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Should we go through those? No. I'm just kidding. We don't have time. Not today. Not nearly enough time. Um talk to me about getting enrolled in VA healthcare.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, some some people think that anybody can just walk up and get health care because they were a veteran. And that's just not the case. There are three ways to get into healthcare. Um it all starts with a Form 10-10Z. Um but part of that is there's three qualifications. One is uh if you don't have any kind of service connected disability, you have to meet certain income restrictions. If your uh net worth is over a certain amount, you're not going to be eligible for health care. The second way is have a service connected disability. That's why some people in the economy say, Well, I can't get into health care. Well, okay, let's talk about your health. Why? Oh, because I'm fishing for service for things that we can claim as a service connected disability. I get that. They're in health care, they don't care about the income. Um the third thing is a a little known thing called a um give me just one second. Catastrophic disability. With that one, it doesn't matter if you have a service connected disability, it doesn't matter what your income is. Um say you have your I'm trying to think of a good scenario. Well, just one that I've I've just dealt with recently. Uh lady came in with her husband who had had a stroke. Well, he had no service connected disabilities. He had he had never seen a VA for anything. But they needed to get him into VA health care, mainly so she could get benefits to help take care of him. Uh and because he had that stroke, that's called a catastrophic disability, and we were able to request that he get an examination, see if he qualifies. And they said, well, yeah, obviously because of his condition. And um within within a month, uh we had gotten him in and uh enrolled in VA healthcare just because of that. So if you have a veteran who's who's um a stroke is a great example, yeah. Um any number of catastrophic illnesses hit out of the blue, um you can get them into VA healthcare. And yeah, there there are still co-pays at some level, uh, but there are others where there's not. Uh it's it's a complex system. Um But that's that's a great way to not have to worry about the income and the service uh connection. You know, if if you're in that unpleasant circumstance, it's an option.
SPEAKER_02So it's not you don't have to meet all three, it's one of the three options. Howard, how can the people, how can veterans in Woodford County reach you?
SPEAKER_03Well, one of the easiest ways is to go to our website at woodfordpost67.com, and there's a tab on that called service officer. And you go in there, you can see what we're about, what we do. Um and then there's a a contact form, you can just send us a message and go that way. I also have a phone number. And of course, I don't remember what it is. I never called myself. Um give me just one second and I'll have it. Uh 859-379-9340. Uh and I may not answer because I'm I'm dealing with a lot of clients and all this other stuff. Um, just leave a message, I'll get back. Umsite and that those are the two best ways. And then the um once a month on the fourth Thursday of every month between 3 and 8 p.m., I have walk-in hours at one of the study rooms up in the Woodford County Library upstairs, down uh downtown for sales. So I just walk on in, and I usually only have one, maybe two people when I'm there. Um you may have to wait a little while until I get done talking to someone else, but come on up and see me, you know? We'll get started.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's awesome. Uh anything else you want to share?
SPEAKER_03Um well, if you do come see me, I would recommend that you bring your DD 214, which is discharge papers. Um bring any any family documentation, marriage certificates, birth certificates, divorce decrees, adoption papers, anything like that. Because when when you get to a certain level of disability, you can get more pay for having dependents and all this other kind of thing. So that's yet another form. But I need to have the information off those other documents to complete that form. Um just come ready and and be prepared to open up. Uh the more I know about a case, the the better I can serve it. And um, you know, there's there's a lot of things that can be claimed that most people don't realize. Um and some of the easiest ones are, for instance, uh hearing problems, and especially for uh combat veterans like tinnitus. Right. Um they're exposed to a lot of loud uh weapons fire and explosions and equipment and all that. Tinnitus is a common thing. So um people don't think, well, it's just noise in my ears, they're never giving me anything for that. Well, they will. And and a lot of people that's a gateway into the VA system. So um you know, just and and don't think about I I want to save those resources for somebody who needs it worse than me. I want to save the appointment times, I want to save the money and all that. Well, I used to think that too, and then somebody opened my eyes and I just wasn't thinking, and they were. I said the VA is always gonna have the money. The VA's always gonna have a slot. Sometimes you might have to wait a couple months to get an appointment, but they always got room and they're always gonna have money. Don't worry about it. Get in there and get what you've earned. And people just need to understand they can step up, come get some help. And like I said, if it's not me, get an accredited service officer from anyone. You can go to VA.gov or you can call their 800 number at 800-827-1000 and ask them to find an accredited service officer near them. Uh but they don't even have to be close. I do a lot of cases via email and phone. I've got cases in Bowling Green, I've got one down in Wilmore, uh, I've got some up towards Cincinnati. And we do everything over the phone.
SPEAKER_02So someone who doesn't even live in Woodford County could contact you.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02And one other thing I think it's important for you to clarify um active duty versus veteran resources. So they, if you're active duty, you can't go through the VA.
SPEAKER_03Yes, but there are exceptions like active duty national guard. If they're not on act currently active federal service, they can get help with the VA. Okay. I've got a few cases that I'm working now that are are people that um you know they're they're active with the guard and they still do their their two weeks every so often and all that other kind of thing, but they're not on active federal. Federal service and that's the that's the big break right there. So you know they can get into VA healthcare and they can get VA benefits for the time they were on active duty. Um I've got some guard members that were in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, and they're getting disability payments for that time. Now they go back on federal service, it makes no difference. Um that's just a that's a a whole nother active period. And that counts for something else. Okay. So yeah, that it now if it's an active duty, say you're an active regular Marine Corps, regular army. No, we we can't do that.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_03Um but uh National Guard and Reservist, yes, we can.
SPEAKER_02All right. Thank you so much for joining me and sharing your expertise.
SPEAKER_03Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_02Thank you for joining us for today's episode. Ask community members. There are several things we can do to help our veterans. We can support them by showing up for them. We can encourage them to reach out, um, just stay in touch with your veteran or loved one, give them a ride where they need to, um, advocate for them, whether that's reaching out to your local politician for an upcoming bill, or on a personal level, attending their appointments and meetings with them. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you next time.
