VA Augments Access to Home and Community-Based Services
May 05, 2022
There has always been a need to have services for veterans needing home care or other community-based services. It’s less restrictive for them to choose their programs and the specific help they need. The number of veterans eligible for nursing home care will surge to more than 4 million by 2039. In 2019, that number was approximately 2 million.
Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced it is enriching its home-based primary care, foster medical home, and veteran-directed care programs. The expansion of services aims to make these programs available to all VA medical centers by 2026.
According to the most recent information, VA aims to add 75 home-based primary care teams to high-demand areas, 58 medical foster homes, and 70 veteran-directed care programs nationwide.
The benefits of these programs are that they allow veterans to remain at home, age in place, delay or avert being placed in a nursing home, and enable the veteran to choose their care according to their needs. Many veterans have chosen programs like these due to more flexibility and a reduced risk of COVID-19 infection.
Programs such as these have resulted in fewer hospitalizations, ER trips, nursing home or hospital days, and fewer inpatient complications or nursing home readmissions.
VA programs include:
- Home-Based Primary Care – is offered to veterans in their residences. This program is for veterans with complex health needs not best served by clinic-based care. The program can be used in combination with other home and community-based services.
- Medical Foster Homes – these homes are private residences and run by a trained caregiver. A few individuals are living in a home. Some medical foster homes function as a nursing home alternative. Services, Care, and supervision is 24/7/365. A veteran can receive home-based primary care while in a foster medical home.
- Veteran-Directed Care – provides veterans with the chance to use home and community-based services to help with personal care and activities of daily living. This program offers a budget for services managed by the veteran or a representative. Veterans can hire their workers to help them at home and in the community.
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