VA and Armed Forces Wellness Centers partnering

VA’s National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (NCP) has partnered with DOD’s Defense Health Agency’s Armed Forces Wellness Centers (AFWC). Together, NCP and AFWC will help ensure the best standard of care for service members and Veterans.

NCP helps Veterans achieve their best health by sharing information on how to prevent disease. It also helps VA health care providers educate and support Veterans. Providers can take part in two NCP training programs to enhance their communication skills. These programs are “Patient Education: TEACH for Success” and “Motivational Interviewing for Patient Aligned Care Teams.”

The classes are designed to train clinicians in best practices for educating and empowering Veterans. In turn, Veterans can take charge of their health and make changes to support their well-being.

AFWCs offer military treatment facility beneficiaries information and support for healthy behavior and lifestyle changes. Recently, they reached out to VA for help in training their staff in health education and patient communication. NCP was the obvious choice for a partnership.

“We take our commitment to prevention seriously,” said Dr. Noel Quinn, national program manager for Health Behavior at NCP. “It’s our mission to reduce the impact of unhealthy behaviors and chronic illness. What better way to start than to reach service members before they even become Veterans?”

“We want to ensure Veterans feel heard and supported.” 

To support this goal, NCP delivered four training sessions to AFWC staff. Dr. Dan Greenwood, national program manager for Patient Centered Learning at NCP, joined Quinn as instructors. AFWC staff learned new strategies to make the most of their time with patients. NCP then invited five AFWC team members to join NCP’s facilitator training. These team members will serve as peer instructors at all 35 current AFWCs worldwide.

“This partnership highlights our shared mission. We both seek to provide exceptional health care. This starts with how we communicate with our patients. We want to ensure service members and Veterans set the agenda and feel heard and supported,” Greenwood said. 

“Health care is a shared responsibility. I am thrilled about our partnership with NCP,” said Megan Amadeo, AFWC project officer. “Since 2017, we have been looking for a sustainable and evidenced-based curriculum to add to our existing health coach training. Not only did the training exceed my expectations, it created a trusted partnership and relationship with Dr. Quinn and Dr. Greenwood at NCP.  I truly believe this will contribute to creating an exceptional experience for our clients.”

NCP will support AFWC as it develops its own patient education programs. NCP hopes the relationship will help prepare and empower service members before they enter VA care.

“It can be disruptive enough entering into civilian life after years of service,” Quinn said. “Navigating your health and wellness shouldn’t add to that.”