VA’s Medical Foster Home Program offers innovative opportunity to care

Offering a unique way to care for Veterans and share in their daily lives, the VA Medical Foster Home Program is just one of many ways we support the aging Veteran population and find new means to provide geriatric care.

All the comforts of home

For Veterans who cannot safely manage their activities of daily living and health on their own, the VA Medical Foster Home Program offers an alternative means of care.

Medical foster homes are private homes in which a trained caregiver provides services. A medical foster home may be appropriate for Veterans who require nursing home care but prefer a setting with fewer residents.

“Veterans living in this type of setting tend to thrive and often have fewer hospitalizations than those who are living alone or in institutional care,” said VA program coordinator Lori Paris. “This environment really enriches the lives of both the Veterans and the remarkable caregivers who accept these Veterans into their homes.”

Looking to the future

With estimates expecting the population of aging Veterans to double in the next 20 years, VA is already hard at work expanding several programs that allow aging Veterans to stay in their homes or live in home-like settings, the Medical Foster Home Program among them.

With expansions of the Home-Based Primary Care (HBPC) and Veteran-Directed Care programs also in the works, our team will need more dedicated professionals to take up the challenge of serving those who have served.

Expanding these services will provide medical care and caregiver services to housebound older Veterans and add to the ways we can offer better care.

A career providing care

Maintaining a high quality-of-life for aging Veterans requires a team of experienced health care professionals. Under the direction of a physician, this team reviews a Veteran’s health care needs and offer treatments and support for both Veterans and their caregivers. Opportunities include:

• Registered nurses (RN) — Functioning as a care manager, you’ll assess patient needs and those of their caregivers. You’ll deliver nursing care, and delegate and oversee the care delivered by licensed practical nurses (LPNs).
• Occupational therapists (OT) — You’ll conduct in-home rehabilitative, functional and environmental safety assessments. As with any OT program, your work focuses on helping a Veteran perform activities and roles that are most important to their daily lives.
• Physical therapists (PT) — Provide direct service to Veterans with regard to establishing physical limitations and overcoming handicaps. You help Veterans cope with pain, increase range of motion and improve endurance.
• Psychologists — As the primary mental health provider, you’ll provide assessment, treatment, management and professional consultation services. You’ll also assist the families of our Veterans.
• Social workers — Use your expertise to identify a Veteran’s problems, strengths, needs, abilities, preferences, weaknesses and coping skills. In collaboration with the family, caregivers and your colleagues, you’ll help design a treatment plan that works for each individual Veteran.

Work at VA

Whether caring for aging Veterans in your home or in one of our facilities, your work honors those who have served.

• READ about the Medical Foster Home Program.
• LEARN more about home- and community-based services.
• EXPLORE our hiring incentives.
• SEARCH for a career opportunity at VACareers.va.gov.