WASHINGTON \u2014 Veterans advocates believe they have made impressive strides in recent years in raising awareness about the struggles of military caregivers. Now they\u2019re shifting their focus to ways to fix them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Monday, officials from the Elizabeth Dole Foundation and Department of Veterans Affairs hosted their second annual Military Caregivers summit, announcing a series of new plans to better connect those families with support services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That includes a new VA center of excellence for research on caregivers, development of a new care curriculum for doctors to more fully include caregivers, and building a \u201ccaregiver map\u201d for community leaders and families in need of practical plans for outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne of the issues has been that they feel so alone,\u201d said Dole, a former North Carolina senator and a caregiver to her WWII veteran husband, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. \u201cThey don\u2019t even realize often there are others out there who are experiencing the same things that they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo helping them connect with other caregivers, where they can communicate in a safe space and share communication and cry on each others shoulders, is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Monday\u2019s event, which brought about 300 community activists together, was designed to be a group editing session for the caregiver map project, work that the Dole Foundation expects to finish in mid-2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The document will include a range of caregiver archetypes, to combat the stereotype of veteran caregivers as young women with war-injured husbands. Estimates put the number of military and veterans caregivers at more than 5.5 million Americans, including parents, children, and friends of ailing individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While that work progresses, foundation officials will also partner with VA staffers on launching the new Campaign for Inclusive Care, which will include retraining thousands of department physicians to \u201cbetter support caregivers throughout their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VA Secretary David Shulkin called the effort a key step ahead for the department, ensuring that families are more involved in the care of their loved ones. Dole said she hopes the final product also provides a blueprint for private-sector physicians to better treat their patients. The effort will be funded through a $1 million grant from USAA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shulkin also announced at the event that VA will establish a new caregivers research center for excellence. That idea had been a major lobbying point for caregiver advocates, to both highlight the population and provide more information on its demographics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is going to provide meaningful change among caregivers,\u201d Dole said. \u201cIt\u2019ll be a research blueprint and drive how we react to what is needed to help them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Department officials also expect to release new caregiver proposals in coming weeks, part of a review into existing programs begun earlier this year in response to complaints about VA\u2019s inconsistent policies on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those plans could include changes to the VA caregiver stipend program, which under law is currently only available to families of veterans who served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars era. Shulkin has repeatedly said he sees flaws in that approach, given the aging veteran population and the large number of caregivers from earlier eras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dole said she welcomes all the help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMilitary and veteran caregiving has garnered national attention over the last few years, and that\u2019s great,\u201d she said. \u201cBut there is still so much we don\u2019t know about these hidden heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n