When you welcome veterans to your Residential Care Facility for the Elderly (RCFE), you want to make sure they get the high level of care they deserve. They served our country, and now it’s your team’s turn to serve them. That might mean adapting your care to their needs. Service members may have physical or mental challenges (e.g., chronic pain from injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD], traumatic brain injury [TBI]) that add an extra layer of requirements.
As a result, it’s important that your staff feels both knowledgeable about the extra care your veteran residents need and empowered to take the required action. In order to best meet the unique needs of those residents, you first need to understand them.
Learning About Veteran Residents’ Requirements
If you’re about to move a new veteran resident in, use the intake process to learn everything you can about their needs. Have staff talk with both the resident and any friends or family members to try to discern as much as possible.
Specifically, aim to identify any diagnosed physical or mental health conditions. If you learn that the veteran suffered a TBI, for example, it can help your team prepare for the long-term effects like aggression and coordination challenges.
As you explore your veteran resident’s needs, also aim to learn if they have any support from the Department of Veterans Affairs. They should have medical coverage through the VA, of course, but they may also be tapped into mental health care or VA-backed financial assistance for their housing costs.
The more you can understand the veteran’s starting point, the better you’ll be able to serve them.
Addressing Health Concerns
Once you understand the mental and physical health needs of your veteran resident, be proactive about addressing them.
If the veteran lives with PTSD, for example, you should probably equip your staff with some level of training on trauma-informed care. The 15-minute “PTSD Awareness in Health Care Settings” video from the VA can be a good starting place. It describes common PTSD symptoms and how they might affect any of your team members as they administer care.
As you seek to provide the care your veteran resident needs, don’t overtax your team. Many veterans need support that extends well beyond the training and bandwidth of RCFE staff. Connecting them to other service providers — like mental health or physical therapists —helps to improve their quality of life.
Honoring Their Service
No veteran wants to feel like their service was forgotten. Look for ways to honor it at your facility. You may hold special Veterans Day and Memorial Day events, for example. On the 4th of July, your veterans will likely be appreciative of any mention of their service.
Additionally, veteran residents often benefit from connecting to other former service members. If you have multiple veterans at your RCFE, consider starting a peer group for them. Connecting with others and remembering their time in the service can be a helpful way to build community and wellbeing into these residents’ lives.
Managing Additional Risk
As you learn about your veteran residents’ specific needs, bring that information to your insurance agent. You may need to adapt your RCFE insurance coverage to appropriately protect your facility.
Our team can help you determine if any adjustments need to be made to safeguard your RCFE. Contact InsureMyRCFE at (805) 413-5668 today.
