March 26, 2012 - On March 26, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released the Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses Task Force Report. The 52 page report addresses health-related concerns. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki explained, “This report, which considered input from nearly 500 Veterans who responded to the draft report, provides a roadmap for our continued enhancements in the care and services we provide to Gulf War veterans. We will also apply lessons learned from this Task Force to our engagement with Veterans of all eras.”Last October, the VA issued a draft version of the report for public comment. During the 30-day comment period, the VA received more than 450 comments through a special social media website created for that purpose; it received additional comments through e-mail, snail mail and telephone calls. “Feedback is critical to understand and serve the specific needs of Gulf War Veterans,” said Gingrich. “This valuable input will guide how the task force communicates with Veterans in the future,” noted Task Force Chairman John R. Gingrich, who is chief of staff at the VA and a retired Army officer who served in the Gulf War.
The report is focused on efforts to improve the healthcare delivery to Gulf War veterans. A significant addition to the precious report is the launch of a prototype clinical care model specifically for Gulf War Veterans, which represents the most critical point of service VA provides. In addition, efforts are underway to create better links between specialty knowledge on Gulf War health issues and subject matter experts for healthcare providers serving these veterans at the point of care.
The VA also announced that Gulf War-specific research and development is also contributing to clinical practice and clinical education throughout the VA healthcare system. Two new positions were established in the Office of Research and Development for deployment health and Gulf War health-related issues. read more>>>
No comments:
Post a Comment