WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) began making Portal from Facebook devices available, April 15, to Veterans and their caregivers and families, to reduce isolation and improve social connectedness at home.
In support of Veterans’ mental health and social connection, VA partnered with Facebook to provide more than 7,400 devices, while the American Red Cross Military Veteran Caregiver Network will store and ship them in pairs to qualifying Veterans, along with their caregivers or families.
The partnership was initiated by the PREVENTS office which is charged with supporting the Executive Order task force responsible for the development and implementation of the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide.
“Veterans, families and caregivers will benefit through an increased support system,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “Our goal is for Veterans to feel less isolated through more communication. We believe this technology will help Veterans who might otherwise be unreachable.”
Those participating in REACH-VET, one of VA’s Caregiver Support Programs (General Caregiver Support Services or Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers) or in any of VA’s Geriatric and Extended Care Services programs may qualify to receive a free Portal device.
Learn more about PREVENTS and VA’s mental health and suicide prevention efforts.
Disclaimer: The sharing of any non-VA information does not constitute an endorsement of products or services on behalf of VA. Use google chrome to optimize viewing of links.
Reporters and media outlets with questions or comments should contact the Office of Media Relations at vapublicaffairs@va.gov
Veterans with questions about their health care and benefits (including GI Bill). Questions, updates and documents can be submitted online.
Veterans can also use our chatbot to get information about VA benefits and services. The chatbot won’t connect you with a person, but it can show you where to go on VA.gov to find answers to some common questions.
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