National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships
HAP Partnership Impact
VHA partnerships prioritize the well-being of Veterans with a healthier planet
April 7 is recognized as World Health Day, an observance led by the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise awareness about health topics that concern people all over the world.
This year, WHO created a campaign called “Our planet, our health” because protecting the planet will help create a healthier society for everyone. The VHA National Center for Healthcare Advancement and Partnerships (HAP) supports WHO’s mission daily through its partnerships and health care initiatives by prioritizing the well-being of Veterans and the communities they live in.
HAP and their partners focus on creating the best society possible by offering resources and services that focus on health promotion, Whole Health, and positive social determinants of health (SDOH). SDOH are conditions in the environments where Veterans live, learn, work, play, worship, and age. Positive SDOH, such as opportunities for physical activity, socialization, employment, and food security, are connected to better health and quality-of-life outcomes for Veterans and reduced risk of suicide.
One partnership, the American Lung Association, has education and services for Veterans living with lung disease, which could have developed due to exposure to hazardous situations like toxic air pollutants, oil well fires, and open-air burn pits. Developing cancer from air pollution is an example of an avoidable environmental cause that more than 13 million people die from each year.
Other partnerships like MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger and Food Research & Action Center—managed by VHA’s Nutrition and Food Services—help counteract the risks associated with negative SDOH (food insecurity, lack of social support, etc.) by providing social support networks, assisting with food and nutrition services, and creating personalized plans of care.
In addition to that collaboration, Americans for the Arts brings Veterans greater access to positive SDOH and supports Veterans’ Whole Health—an approach to care centered around what is important to the individual based on their values, needs, and goals—with arts and humanities programming at local medical centers or community partner facilities.
HAP constantly strives to bring the best health care to Veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors. For more information about other HAP partnerships that support this cause, please visit https://www.va.gov/HEALTHPARTNERSHIPS/partnerships.asp.
To learn more about World Health Day and how other people are protecting the planet and their health, please visit https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-health-day/2022.
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Posted March 17, 2022
