- Ethel Barrymore

“Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing we have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a person’s training begins, it is probably the last lesson he or she learns thoroughly.”

- Thomas Henry Huxley

Military leaders and veterans’ advocates worry about hidden hiring discrimination against Iraq and Afghanistan war vets by employers who see the veterans perhaps as emotionally damaged.

A key fear is how this could be contributing to stubbornly higher joblessness among the generation that volunteered to serve in the military after the 9/11 attacks. Because employers are barred by law from asking job applicants about mental health conditions, many assume that any veteran can be afflicted with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) although the vast majority returned from war without emotional problems, researchers and veterans advocates say.

“There is a need to be concerned about this issue and this stigma,” says Kevin Schmiegel, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Hiring our Heroes program.

The Army is launching a “Hire a Veteran” campaign aimed partly  at “debunking some of the myths around hiring disabled veterans,” says Nancy Adams, Army transition manager. “This should not be an issue.”

Leading corporate hiring managers have told researchers they fear these veterans might fly into a rage or “go postal.” As a consequence, veterans say they’ve seen blatant discrimination.

“They didn’t even hide it,” says Timothy “Rhino” Paige, a former Air Force pilot who developed PTSD in 2005 when he transported the remains of slain Americans on his C-130 in Iraq.

When Paige sought federal work in Colorado in 2010 under laws offering disabled veterans preferential hiring consideration, he says he didn’t even get an interview.  Paige, 49, today a civilian employee with the Navy, said that federal employers back in 2010 “were straight out, ‘We don’t want disabled veterans and the problems that come with them.’”

Research published last year suggests that misconceptions about PTSD and veterans are a factor in hiring decisions.

Researchers from the Center for New American Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, interviewed executives of 69 leading corporations, including Bank of America, Target, Wal-Mart, Procter and Gamble, and Raytheon. All said hiring veterans can be good for business, but more than half acknowledged harboring a negative image of veterans because of how popular media — from news coverage to films — portray PTSD.

Margaret Harrell, a co-author of the June study, says she’s seen no evidence of changing attitudes.

Her findings mirror those of the Society for Human Resource Management, the nation’s largest association of personnel managers, which published survey results early last year showing that about one in three employers see PTSD as an impediment to hiring any veteran.

Government and private researchers estimate that PTSD is present in 5%-20% of the 1.6 million veterans who served since 9/11. The Department of Veterans Affairs, which has treated about 56% of those veterans, reports 117,000 diagnosed cases.

Even among those who have the disorder, their conditions are no better or worse than the estimated 7.7 million Americans suffering from the illness as the result of non-combat trauma, such as car accidents or sexual assault, Adams says.

In job settings, PTSD can be easily accommodated by steps such as allowing time for therapy or avoiding confining work environments, according to the Labor Department.

Advocates worry this message is not getting through to employers.

While joblessness among post-9/11 veterans declined from 12.1% in 2011 to 9.9% last year, it remained well above a labor force rate of 7.8% or 7% among all veterans last year. About one in nine veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan were without work late last summer, government statistics show.

During the first quarter of this year, an estimated 220,000 Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans were without work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday. That is an increase from the first quarter of 2012, when an estimated 185,000 were jobless.

An initiative led by first lady Michelle Obama last year enlisted 2,000 American companies to promise they would hire or train 125,000 veterans or their spouses.

But advocates say that despite good corporate intentions, bias can lurk at lower company levels where hiring decisions are made.

“Middle manager … is where the problem lies,” says Robert Turner, who recently co-founded veteran recruitment firm KCK with Carlton Kent, a former sergeant major of the Marine Corps. “You have to convince the middle of the company how to accept these folks and how to work with them and how to make them successful.”

Shannon Williams last year became program director of a recruitment effort at health care giant UPMC, one of Pennsylvania’s largest employers. Part of her work is recruiting disabled veterans. She says a key challenge was educating middle managers that veterans with PTSD can be easily accommodated and productive hires.

Williams says directors of nursing units or other medical offices openly expressed concern about the safety of patients if veterans with PTSD were hired. One worry, for example, was that the sound of a monitoring device when a patient flat-lines might trigger a worker with PTSD to shut down during the emergency, putting a patient’s life at risk, Williams says.

“With the managers, we just talk them through the situation,” she says, “explain to them differences between the reality of PTSD and what is fabricated (by popular culture) out there.”

Discriminatory attitudes left Paige, the Air Force pilot, dispirited. “I got angry and kind of lost faith in the whole system,” he says.

He and other veterans turn to non-profit organizations such as the Wounded Warrior Project, which continually shop their résumés to prospective employers until offers come through.

A few months ago, Paige, who has a master’s degree in logistics and 25 years as a pilot, took a job in acquisitions for the Naval Air Systems Command at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in southern Maryland.

Between assistance from Wounded Warrior Project and being embraced by his current employer, Paige says his world has turned around.

“The guy that helps you get a job is powerful,” he says of those who helped him find a path around discrimination against veterans with PTSD.

The main goal of a Care Transitions Coach (CTC) is to improve care transitions by providing patients with the tools and support that encourage and promote knowledge and self-management of their transition as they move from one environment to another. Along with ensuring a smooth transition home, they identify concerns and problems, build relationships with practitioners and ensure that transfers are safe and effective.

Under the Eric Coleman model, the CTC collaborates with patients and caregivers in four different areas (also known as The Four Pillars):

1. Medication self-management: The patient is knowledgeable about medications and has a medication management system
2. Use of a patient-centered record: Patient understands and utilizes the Personal Health Record (PHR) to facilitate communication and ensure continuity of care plan across providers and settings. The PHR is managed by the patient or by the informal caregiver
3. Primary Care and Specialist Follow-Up: Patient schedules and completes follow-up visit with the primary care physician or specialist physician and is prepared to be an active participant in these interactions
4. Knowledge of Red Flags: Patient is knowledgeable about indicators that suggest his or her condition is worsening and how to respond.

The four pillars are operationalized through two mechanisms, a Personal Health Record (PHR) and a series of structured visits and follow-up phone calls with the CTC. The PHR is a dynamic record that includes the patient’s demographic information and medical history, physician and caregiver contact information, advance healthcare directives, medications and allergies, and a structures checklist of activities that should precede discharge and aid in the follow-up at home. The use of a CTC aids in helping the patient to feel empowered and reduces readmissions.

Feinberg Consulting’s Founder and CEO, Pam Feinberg-Rivkin has been formally trained by Eric Coleman and can assist in educating others on this process.

Many people celebrated mother’s day this year with an elderly mother. For those of you who did, you may have noticed that the gifts or favors mom used to enjoy long ago, have been replaced with the joy of spending time with relatives. You may also have noticed that medical needs have been amplified and decisions have to be made. Things that once were easy for mom, like walking up and down stairs, or opening jars may have become more challenging since you last saw her. Now, it may be unsafe for her to continue driving. Can mom continue living independently? Should you help her move into an assisted living facility? These are questions that a care manager can help answer. Most people don’t even know their options and many make rash decisions that can impact their relationship.

Having a conversation with your mother about her circumstances can be very difficult. But would she feel more at ease if an aide visited a couple of times throughout the week? Maybe she has legal questions. Or maybe she just needs help with some simple housecleaning. As a daughter or son, you can ease these concerns by being a source of support. Creating a dialog with care manager who has “been there before” can be invaluable in making the most of your time with mom. People often hire professionals to help with things we may not be familiar with, like building a house or curing an illness. So why not hire a professional for the aging process?

Make sure to take notice of your mother’s mood and ask how she is feeling. A drastically different mood could be a sign of depression or other health concerns. Make sure to talk with your mother about her activities. Does she connect with friends? Does she have any interests or hobbies? Listening to your mom about her situation is a gift in itself. Remember to be patient with her as she was with you growing up.

Ask her to help you out. Your mother wants to feel like she is still needed. So ask her for advice! Tell her that you want her to continue enjoying herself and you have some ideas that can help.

Remember that now is a great time to give her a call with the rush of the holiday over. You have a fresh idea of the situation in mind. Also, remember that your love and support is what makes mother’s day so special.

So, a Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there!

To celebrate National Geriatric Care Manager Month, Feinberg Consulting, Inc. will be reaching out to the community with an innovative program called, “Ask the Care Manager.”

Feinberg Consulting offers information, and support, to individuals involved in the complexities of caring for a loved one. “We play an important role in helping navigate the aging process.  As professional geriatric care managers, our nurses and social workers will help support individuals, and their families, with the challenges they are facing through advocacy and coordination of care,” explained Feinberg-Rivkin, a Certified Member of the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers.

If you have a question about caring for your loved one, please call to “Ask the Care Manager.”  “Ask the Care Manager” is an initiative to provide a safe place to gain free information, a listening ear, and a qualified and caring professional to help evaluate your situation and provide recommendations based on their extensive experience.

Feinberg Consulting’s Professional Geriatric Care Managers will be available 9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST throughout the month of May to take calls. Their nurses and social workers can be reached toll free at 877-538-5425. All calls are private and you may choose to remain anonymous.

the more we have to give to others.

When we find that place within

ourselves that is giving, we begin to

create an outward flow.  Giving to

others comes not from a sense of

sacrifice, self-righteousness, or

spirituality, but for the pure pleasure

of it, because it’s fun.  Giving can only

come from a full, loving space.”

How often do attorneys have a client who turns to them for seemingly every question? Attorneys are viewed as a trusted professional and a ‘go-to’ person for someone when they aren’t sure who else to turn to.

Geriatric Care Managers fill an important gap in the process and work closely with attorney’s to take on the medical, social, and financial questions that arise. This allows attorneys to focus on their areas of expertise and make the best use of their time. The Geriatric Care Manager can field miscellaneous calls, help locate resources, key in on red flags in the home, and provide detailed reporting to the firm.

Benefits of Geriatric Care Managers to Elder Law Attorneys:

• Provide solutions to a client’s health, housing, and social needs
• Help limit unnecessary calls and correspondence to the attorney’s office by answering the client’s questions which are unrelated to law
• Give the attorney a complete overview of the client’s current condition with comprehensive, concise and detailed reporting
• Advocate for the client’s end of life wishes

Calling a Geriatric Care Manager will not only benefit your clients, but also be an invaluable asset to you and your firm. Feinberg Consulting, Inc. is a leader in Geriatric Care Management and has the expertise to help your clients improve their quality of life and create a new level of efficiency.

Call 877-538-5435 for more information about Geriatric Care Management.

-        Francois Fenelon

-         Marcel Proust

http://embraceofaging.com/Men/04-08-2013.html