How often do you forget to take your medicine? Do you have an exercise routine? When was the last time you took time for yourself to de-stress and relax?
Thousands of Veterans have used Annie messages.
If your answers to those questions made you feel uncomfortable, you’re not alone. Most of us tend to take better care of others than we do ourselves.
VA has a way for Veterans to take charge of their health, one text message at a time. The Annie program for Veterans sends you text messages with health information and reminders. You can sign up for the program’s medication reminders, weight management tips, stress management activities and more.
Annie is an automated program – it’s not a way to send texts to your VA care team. However, any mobile phone with texting can receive the messages.
What Veterans are saying
Thousands of Veterans have used Annie messages since VA launched the program in 2019. Recently, a group of Veterans participated in a VA study to learn how much the texts helped them. Here’s what two Veterans said:
“My mood and attitude change quite often, and it’s just kind of nice to be asked how I’m feeling. I look forward to Annie texting every day. It keeps me focused, knowing that she’s gonna be texting me.”
“The program helped me become more aware. You know, ‘Take your meds regularly every day,’ and all of a sudden it occurred to me that, Ok, if I take my meds every day, then some of these meds are asking me to eat. So, I started doing that.”
Register and subscribe to messages from ‘Annie’
You can register for the program by following these instructions. You can also ask your VA health care team to register you.
Once registered, you can subscribe to the different types of Annie messages in this list. VA health care teams have an even longer list of Annie messages they can choose from. Talk to your VA care team about which texts are best for you.
Treva Lutes is director of the Office of Connected Care Communications.
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I don’t think the VA reads these comments anymore.
But I have gained much information from them.
I need to enroll to Annie. Can help me. Thanks!
SUBMISSION OF AN APPLICATION IS DENIED WITHOUT A MOBILE PHONE NUMBER. IS THE VA NOW REQUIRING US TO HAVE A MOBILE PHONE IN ORDER TO USE SOME OF ITS SERVICES?
What is the point of this program if we can’t message our providers? Sound like just another way to brush us off and IGNORE us. Just like the damn kiosks and the “new and improved” benefit travel program or “secure” messaging which isn’t secure in the least.
I don’t know about the Annie program, but I know about every other thing you are saying, and it’s totally true. Secure message is not secure. Everyone and their sister can read them. I had no idea. I thought secure meant secure between the person I’m communicating with and me. Not so! I can’t wait for them to put another layer between us and our providers (I’m being very sarcastic here!). Just add another call center to ‘take a message! As it is now, it’s like playing that game ‘telephone Like.’ where the message is screwed up by the time the person gets it. And god forbid if you want them to give you a call because you experience anxiety so badly it is difficult to do email or secure message (where they have 72 hours!! to respond). Whew! Thanks for the vent! I am so pissed off at the VA today.
I had placed a “Blue Water Claim”. for my service in Vietnam in 1970. When it was determined that Type II Diabetes has been proven to have a link to this issue.
I have never heard anything!
Stationed aboard: USS ANCHORAGE- LSD 36 9/70
[Editor: NEVER publish your sensitive information on the internet! I have edited it out of this comment.]