My internship was focused on adding or adapting programs to help veterans gain access to all the resources they needed. In the beginning of my internship I was focused on spirituality and how it would be beneficial for veterans to participate in being spiritual. I made resource sheets for people in the home and the caregivers to give them the resources that they needed during the pandemic One of the main resources that helped connect to being spiritual is the T.A.P.S program. This program was designed to provide comfort and support for people who have lost a family member in the service (Taps Strategy), This program gave a perspective on why people need spirituality when grieving the death of a loved one. There were two ways that they presented to the situation. The first was people blaming their higher power for the loss they were going through not understanding why the entity they looked up to would let something like this happen.
The other side was the opposite of that. People use their higher power as a crutch. They rely on it and use it to get them through a difficult times. In my own life I have seen many people use their “God” to deal with the death of a loved one and I wanted to make sure that they had this resource if they were going through anything like this. As my internship continued my boss and I had made plans for me to implement a meeting with caregivers and the Veterans on the homes. The purpose of this was to see how the spiritual meeting affected them. I would play two videos, in between the videos I would go over the resource sheet that pertained to the group I was talking to. After some discussion, my boss didn’t think we would have time to effectively do this in a few months. She said that things like this can take many months to plan and she wanted to ensure that I was successful in my internship.
That is when we switched the goal of my internship. I went from spirituality practices to analyzing all the programs that the Nation Department of Vetema Affairs did and finding ways to improve them. I was given a sheet of ideas on how to do this. One of the main one was research adult day care centers and see how effective they are compared to other programs. An adult day health center can be seen as an adult day care. The mission of these centers is to.” Provide senior and diabled participants personalized daycare… in order to achieve the best possible functional level with a maximum reduction of mental and physical disability. These centers also give caregivers a little break in the day. They are able to drop off their Veteran with a disability and take some time for themselves. They later have to pick them up and return them to where they were previously.
This is applicable to the community because many Veterans don’t have any care. A lot of them live on the streets and aren’t given the resources that they deserve from serving. The veterans that do have care should be having the best care there is. They sacrificed a lot for the country and it is important that they are connected to all the benefits that NDVS has to offer. These programs ensure better life for the disabled and get the veterans connected to other people who have served. Allowing them to reflect and connect with other people who have gone through similar things as them. One way to help the overall health and wellbeing of our veterans is to ensure that these programs are running efficiently. The public health world is a constantly changing field and it is important for policies to develop based on individual needs. The connection between Veterans and the community is so important because it gives insight into who our heroes are. Demonstrating what people sacrificed to protect the whole population of the US. This pandemic really disconnected the veterans from the community.
Not allowing them to go to events where they could meet people and have social interaction, This is crucial for the health and growth of our veterans, With the vaccines being administered these connections are being opened again and allowing for the growth of our veterans. Integrate key pieces of knowledge One concept that I have applied to my internship is the social ecological model. The comparison between individual and societal is very evident in my internship. On an individual level veterans aren‘t well educated on all the benefits that they have from their service. Individuals should have proper learning on prevention to keep them healthy and sate( CDC, 2021), This is really important with veterans that suffer with ptsd and physical disability. They need to have the resources to keep themselves safe and improve their mental health. NDVS really helps to connect the individual to our society. All the programs that are offered to veterans help keep them educated and allow them to improve their mental health.
Government policy directly affects what these veterans are able to access. The second concept I have learned in multiple classes is autonomy. This is the power we have as individuals to control our own lives and make decisions for ourselves. Within my internship veterans aren’t filling in control of their own lives. They have a lot of people making decisions for them and it has been clear that tier autonomy has been taken away from them. A primary example of this is with someone who has a disability within a home. People who want to get into relationships within the homes have to get approval from the home to have alone time with a person. It really surprised me to find out how much other people have a say in what happens in these heroes lives. That is why my focus in the internship has been to try to find the best ways to improve these veterans’ quality of life.
Relation to other courses this year has been one of the biggest learning experiences for everyone. COVID-19 had left a huge impact on how everyone perceives the world. in my epidemiology class I learned about prevalence and how important it is to look at death rates. The prevalence of this disease was so high that it kept many people in isolation. One of the main groups affected were the elderly. Since this disease was known to kill elderly people and people with underlying health conditions. it left a lot of veterans in the homes in isolation. The veterans weren‘t allowed to leave the homes. see their family members, or travel anywhere. A lot of other people weren‘t able to leave either but they were able to have interpersonal communication with other people. This concept helped me understand why it is so important for the NDVS to make sure that all their programs are running efficiently.
Making sure that all the people participating are helped and given the proper care that they need. Comparing and Contrasting. Overall learning all the lessons I did through my experience at UNR has helped me see the importance of the healthcare system. Having proper health coverage is so important in anyone’s life. Without insurance people are left with thousands of dollars in debt. Not only Veterans but thousands of other people are affected by an insufficient healthcare system. Many other countries have different forms of healthcare that allow regular hospital visits. In our country if you aren’t covered you are left in the dark to deal with it yourself, I am happy that the courses I have taken gave me such a better understanding of how hard it is to maintain proper health, I will take all these lessons I have learned the past four years into my career and educate others about proper health care and policy.
