Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs offers free military culture training to staff at state’s largest healthcare provider
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Providence providers will be Veteran Ready following PsychArmor training
San Diego, CA – The Washington State Department of Veteran Affairs (WDVA) announced a program to offer a military cultural competency training certificate program to healthcare practitioners at Providence, Washington State’s largest healthcare provider. The Veteran Ready certificate program is offered by PsychArmor, a nonprofit training provider for military cultural awareness, serving members of the military-connected community and anyone who wants to more effectively engage with them. WDVA believes that by encouraging community members to better understand military and veteran culture, Veterans, military and their families will receive the best possible care.
An outgrowth of the Governor’s Challenge to prevent suicide among service members, Veterans, and their families, funding was secured by the Washington State Department of Health to train up to 300 learners. Courses will be available through a custom, online learning portal and includes the foundational course 15 Things Veterans Want You To Know for Healthcare Providers. Additional courses focus on suicide prevention, PTSD, caregiver support, communicating with Veterans, military culture, mental health wellness and more. Providence providers are required to take seven of the 14 courses to receive their Veteran Ready Healthcare Practitioner status. Dr. Heidi Kraft, PsychArmor’s Chief Clinical Officer and a Navy Veteran, kicked off the program with a live webinar on June 21 for state employees and Providence leadership.
“This partnership will change lives, plain and simple,” said Lourdes “Alfie” Alvarado-Ramos. “Many people think that all Veterans receive their health care from the VA but that is simply not the case. Nearly 75% of Veterans are seen by community providers, so the commitment from Providence to train staff to better serve Veterans and their Families will make a difference.”
“At Providence, we make a promise to everyone we serve: I will know you, care for you and ease your way. Participating in the Veterans ready certification program is an important step to live our promise for every veteran we have the privilege of serving,” said Arpan Waghray, Chief Medical Officer, Behavioral Medicine, Providence.
“We applaud Washington State for demonstrating its commitment to those in the military-connected community,” says Dr. Tina Atherall, CEO of PsychArmor. “Military cultural awareness training for providers assists in reducing or eliminating barriers to care for Veterans and their families.”
PsychArmor is a national nonprofit specializing in military cultural awareness that harnesses the power of education and scalable technology for social good, delivering easily accessible online courses, at no cost to the individual learner. Presented by over 100 subject matter experts, PsychArmor’s 200+ online courses have been viewed over 1.32 million times, assisting service members, Veterans, military families, healthcare providers, employers, educators, frontline workers, caregivers, and volunteers.
About Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs
The Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs helps connect veterans and their family members to the benefits and services they earned through their military service. For more information and to get connected to a benefits specialist, visit dva.wa.gov. For information about the Suicide Prevention Program, contact Codie Garza, Suicide Prevention Program Manager, at codie.garza@dva.wa.gov.
About Providence
Providence is a national, not-for-profit Catholic health system comprising a diverse family of organizations and driven by a belief that health is a human right. With 52 hospitals, over 1,000 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing, and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ more than 120,000 caregivers serving communities across seven states – Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, and Washington, with system offices in Renton, Wash., and Irvine, Calif. Learn about our vision of health for a better world at Providence.org.
About PsychArmor
PsychArmor is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation providing education and support to individuals and organizations that work with, live with, and care for American service members, Veterans, and their families. For more information, contact Carole Turner, cturner@psycharmor.org
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