Patrick McCaffrey Foundation





ValleyForgeCenter.org

From Sauk Centre Herald   May 19,2009


Village could become model  
for Casey’s medical plan


Wellness model has backing from Mayo Clinic doctors,  
who will perform outcome-based studies on  
patients who receive treatment


By Bryan Zollman


If the Valley Forge Village becomes a reality, it could be the start for a new medical model
spearheaded by Bill Casey. Casey was on hand Saturday to discuss the plan, which
focuses on wellness, happiness and fulfillment.

“The goal is to find one’s most favorable wellness state regardless of their current health
status,” Casey said. “How can you be as well as possible regardless of your current health
status?”

Casey said the model focuses on the individual taking responsibility for his or her own
wellness, fulfillment and happiness. For example, a veteran who lost both limbs in the war
would be treated using an AEMPAMO process to discover his optimal wellness. Casey
called it a mind, body, spirit assessment. AEMPAMO stands for Assessment, Education,
Motivation, Practice, Accountability, Measuring and Outcomes.

Casey said the process takes three to six months and the Mayo Clinic is said to be on
board in providing outcome based studies.

Casey outlines the dimensions of wellness, happiness and fulfillment in his model. As
patients heal, his plan is to allow them to follow their progress on-line.

“All the doctors are extremely supportive of this,” Casey said. “We really are going to
change the health care model of America.”

Casey began helping veterans after the Korean War. He joined the service at age 17.
“It was time for me to go to war,” he said, choking back tears as he addressed the crowd
Saturday. “It was a blessing for me to be a value to people. And now, at 75, I never thought I
would be able to provide the value of service to my country. I’m happy to be here.”

Shinseki Measures Scope Of Veterans' Mental Issues
November 13, 2009

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Tim Sloan/AFP/Getty Images

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and President Obama mark Veterans Day on Wednesday during a ceremony at
the Memorial Amphitheater at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

November 13, 2009
In his first nine months as head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki
has spent hours just listening to veterans talk. Shinseki tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that he feels a
strong obligation to "give back" to the men and women he once served with.

Last week, Shinseki spoke to a group of young veterans attending college. A former Army chief of
staff who was wounded during his service in Vietnam, Shinseki asked the veterans if any of them
suffered from post-traumatic stress.

He got only silence — so Shinseki asked about symptoms.

"How many of you have a little trouble sleeping at night?" he asked the students, many of whom
had been in combat.

The general then asked them if they were overly vigilant for threats in their own homes, or if any
of them had been having anger management problems.

"And then hands go up," Shinseki said. "And they looked at each other, and they suddenly realize
they're not the only ones in it."

Since 2001, more than 1 million new veterans have come into a system that is being stretched
thin. And one thing they'll need a lot of help with is their own peace of mind.

In particular, Shinseki has been concerned with what he calls "resilience." Shinseki, a former
engineering student, describes what happens when a ball is suspended in air and then dropped.

The ball will bounce, he said — but it will not rise to the same height from which it was dropped.
And if the ball continues to bounce, it progressively gets lower and lower.

"This also describes the multiple deployments" that American soldiers have experienced in the
past eight years on tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, Shinseki said. "Quality of resilience is
affected."

Inskeep then asked if — given the large scale of the problems posed by post-traumatic stress and
other mental injuries — Shinseki sees the problem being "fully addressed and fully resourced" by
the VA.

"I think we're better at addressing and resourcing it," said Shinseki. "I don't know what 'fully' is
right now. I can't quantify the size of the challenge."


Shinseki said that he is reaching out to the Department of Defense and trying to create a
computer-driven system that will track service personnel through their careers — including when
they become veterans. The idea, he said, is to use automatic enrollment to create VA health
records for service members when they join the military.

"So when the uniform comes off, we have all the evidence we need to make faster, better,
smarter adjudications," Shinseki said.

The scope of that project is huge — and it will likely take some time to implement.

"I remind folks around here [that] the average life of a secretary of veterans affairs is three years,"
Shinseki said. "So, I'd better get moving."
WELLNESS