As you age or experience illnesses that impact your daily routines, you may need additional care, and VA is fully equipped to meet your needs wherever you are in your health journey. VA provides a variety of services and support to aging and disabled Veterans. Partnering with community providers, VA helps to ensure that Veterans can maintain independence and autonomy as they rise above the challenges of aging, disability or serious illness.
Resources for older Veterans
There are a variety of resources and programs for older Veterans that can help them build a routine and support system to remain independent.
- Veteran Decision Aid provides a checklist to help you narrow down which VA resources and what kind of care is best for you, with help creating a personalized health plan by and for Veterans like you.
- Veteran Directed Care allows you and your caregiver(s) to create an individualized plan for assistance and personal care that fits your needs and lifestyle. Through this program, you can get help developing a spending and care plan to help you live independently in your own home or community.
- Palliative Care focuses on keeping symptoms in check so that you can carry out day-to-day activities. Palliative care aims to improve your overall quality of life, whether that’s physical, mental or emotional well-being.
- Adult Day Health Care is a VA support program designed to help with personal care tasks while also providing opportunities for you to socialize with others and engage in your community. These activities are flexible and can be adjusted to best fit your schedule and needs.
Community resources
VHA also provides a wide range of community resources online, over the phone and in-person to help you find support and address specific needs. These include:
- Benefits Checkup is a free service that helps you identify what programs and care you qualify for.
- The National Aging and Disability Transportation Center promotes transportation options for older adults and caregivers, allowing more flexibility and freedom for senior Veterans.
If you are enrolled in VA health care, speak with your primary care provider to find out if you are eligible for geriatric and extended care services.
It’s never too late to apply for the VA health care you’ve earned. If you are a Veteran or know a Veteran who has not yet applied for their VA health care benefits, learn how to get started.
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I am a retired USN deep sea diver with 90% disability. I am looking for assistance in my bathroom remodel to make it safe for me to get in and out of the shower!
Greetings VA Team,
My name is Eddy V and I am a member of a Veteran Support Organization called Voices of Vets. I wanted to bring our VoV to your attention for future use and to ask for your help to spread our mission.
Located in the Baltimore-Washington area, Voices of Vets is a 501(c)(3) non-profit performing group. Voices of Vets performs for veterans residing in veteran homes. For us, it is not only about the performance, but also our interaction with the veterans. We provide small gifts for each veteran (flags, fans, leis, flowers, etc.), and make a connection with every veteran in attendance.
Veterans that entered the room lethargic and uninterested are completely transformed as they hear their favorite songs. They open their eyes, tap their feet, and are able to sing the words to the songs they love. It is truly special to see how a single show can enhance quality of life for those who served our country.
In addition to our performances at the veteran’s homes, Voices of Vets performs at veteran events, assisted living centers/nursing homes, weddings, and parties. When you hire Voices of Vets, a portion of the cost goes back to supporting concerts for the veterans.
Thank you for the information.
Who do you have writing these tales, oh yes, well written but absolutely false. I’m seeing here that the Columbia SC VA is not the only trashy health care facility in the trashy VA hospital system that promises the world and delivers 3rd world services with a dose of absolutely terrible support staff, the rudest people I’ve ever met. Did you know that it is deliberately difficult to contact the local director of any VA? I didn’t either until I tried. The older you are, the further you are from meaningful health care, the policy is, ignore them long enough and they will die, VA policy #1.
I am 81 years old, I do not have ANY cell service at, or near where I live. I have been told there is nothing I can do to get into the ” My Healthy Vet ” website I visited for years. I have been told that without a cell phone , I cannot access the system that all these news letters , articles , references refer me to . So I guess the older vets , that live in an area not served by cell service , are just out of luck , and wish to be forgotten by the VA caregivers. The Director at Wilkes-Barre told me he was sorry . That does not help. Can you ?
We were told by Marianna Dr in Video apointment that in order for my severely disabled blind Brother whom is bed ridden and has been for over 2 yrs he could not get any pain medicine unless he was moved to a facility You all just now got him a hoyer lift an a pressure bed in last 2 weeks I have handled him as best as i could to this point but the man is in pain it seems now we have 2 different companies coming in to assist with his care and to be told that after i have cared for him for almost 7yrs now that I will not be restituted for the time my family has sacraficed my time time with them ti help with the last remaining survivor of our Military Family was a complete slap in my face Our Father was a Blue Water Vet whom passed because biloxi mixed up ex ray imagery and now this with my brother and the constant hurdles that have to be jumped only to learn not to waste years of your life for nothing or survival bill money no less no more make me wish i would had depended on myself rather than you all. We still support the Military but you can feel rest assured my younguns will be full well trained before they so choose this stick it up your adouble s tary!
In receiving VA correspondence for different events and programs, it is very difficult to respond. The Veteran senior gains, likewise, are unobtainable and a lot of Veterans cannot attend them because of their combat injuries like myself. I am stuck using a power chair and I have a medical condition that makes me immobile. I am stuck at home within reach of a bathroom and soft bed to relax, on trying to reduce the pain from a combat spinal injury. The VA surgeons want to cut me open and fuse my spine. Other Veterans that have agreed to this have the surgery done and with the increase in pain, uncontrollable without extreme drugs, they committed suicide. The VA phrase “deny, deny, deny, until the Veterans dies,” and that ends the problem. I got blown up in Laos in October 1972. I worked with the military, and they retired me in September 1993. They transferred me over to the VA and I begged the VA for help. I was put on ghost lists (nonexistence) for years. July 2025, I had just received the VA power chair. I would like to communicate with VA elder care or VA senior Veterans. Thank you. I would like contact information from VA personnel who will contact the disabled Veteran. (I am deaf, and I do not hear the phone ring, so email is much better. I receive over 200 spam phone calls and emails and sorting them out is a full-time task.)
If you were insured a VA medical health card and have other medical insurance can you use both cards at a civilian primary Care provider? I have never used my VA medical card only private Insurance.
Thank you Ms. Tolstyka for this informative posting. I am an 86 y.o. vet and desire to serve the VA as an expression of my appreciation for the great benefits I have received. Thus far my attempts to make connections have failed. I have been watching for the appointment of the USH. Any information you can share will be helpful. Thank you for your good work in the key office you fill.
Is there an APP for one’s cellphone to access senior veterans care?
If you’re taking so good to care of us aging people over 70 why is it that were last in line to get to covert vaccination every single year in the Vancouver area?