RAR QLD Welfare

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One of our objectives is to promote health and welfare matters to members.
We achieve this through our Welfare Sub-committee, of the Department of Veteran's Affairs (DVA) qualified pension and welfare officers, that have the responsibility to:

Identify appropriate health and wellbeing articles from authoritative sources and publish them in the Association’s Newsletter and website,

Provide a welfare referral service to the appropriate DVA and ESO support agencies. Our welfare support officers are not required to give “expert” advice but are required to have a thorough knowledge of the existing Federal, State and community services, RSL, Legacy, etc, welfare networks so that they can refer an enquirer to the most appropriate source, and

Maintain a “care watch” over reported sick members and their families. If you need some welfare guidance, contact our Welfare Officer 'Ross Langford' 07 3261 7830 rosslangford@optusnet.com.au , and he can refer you to a qualified advocate. Going into Hospital? He may be able to visit you and/or advise others you would want to know.

DVA is the major source for providing veterans with health and wellbeing information and encouragement for them to take responsibility for their own health, make lifestyle changes and consider healthy choices to improve the quality of their lives and so enjoy ageing as a positive experience.

Its web site www.dva.gov.au gives access to a wide range of health education subjects and programs, presented in a style that is very easy to read and understand.

VETERANS ENCOURAGED TO GET HEALTHY FOR LIFE
Veterans and their families are encouraged to take part in the many activities happening across the country next week during Veterans’ Health Week, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and Minister for Defence Personnel Alan Griffin said today (16 July 2010). Read more here and here

CHANGES TO DVA CARDS

All Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) Repatriation Health Cards (DVA Cards) are due to expire during 2010. DVA has commenced reissuing Repatriation Health Cards (DVA cards). It is expected all cards will be issued by the end of August 2010.

All eligible veterans, war widows/widowers and dependants will be issued with a new card. Changes to DVA Cards will not reduce eligibility for current DVA card holders.

The changes being made to the cards are to increase:

veteran access to services, provider satisfaction; and security of the cards.

Specialised descriptions on DVA Gold Cards will remain unchanged, these descriptions include but are not limited to:

Totally and Permanently Incapacitated War Widow/Widower; and PoW.

Veteran Access to Services

The magnetic stripe on the cards will contain the following information:

full name; file number; card type; and expiry date.

This change is expected to improve provider satisfaction, as this will enable providers to swipe DVA cards in the same way Medicare or Private Health Fund Cards are currently utilised. By improving the claiming experience for the providers it will increase the likelihood of providers accepting DVA cards.

All eligible veterans, war widows/widowers and dependants living overseas will, for the first time, be issued with a DVA card. This will remove the need for veterans to contact DVA to receive a "letter of authority" when receiving medical treatment within Australia.

Entitlement to treatment overseas is limited to veterans that have an accepted disability/disabilities and DVA funds treatment of those accepted disabilities only. This process for receiving treatment while overseas will not change.

Security Upgrade

All DVA cards will have microprinting and a DVA registered hologram added as security features. The microprinting and hologram are added security features to ensure non entitled persons cannot reproduce a card.

Expected Arrival Date

40,000 cards will be issued each week and the process is expected to be completed by the end of August 2010. DVA will update this website when the reissue is complete.

During this period there will be old and new cards being used by DVA eligible veterans, war widows/widowers and dependants. DVA providers should accept old cards until DVA advises the reissue is complete. DVA eligible veterans, war widows/widowers and dependants should use their old cards until their new card arrives.

COMMENCEMENT OF THE HEALTH IDENTIFIERS SERVICE

The Australian Parliament passed the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 and the Healthcare Identifiers (Consequential Amendments) Act 2010 (the Acts) in late June 2010. Under the Acts, Medicare Australia will be the initial operator of the Health Identifiers (HI) Service. The allows Medicare Australia to begin assigning unique, l6-digit individual healthcare identifiers to the Australian public from the I July 2010.

The HI Service Operator will automatically assign an Individual HI to individuals who are enrolled for Medicare benefits or have a Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) treatment card.

Individual healthcare identifiers will provide a way for healthcare providers to more accurately match the right records to the person they are treating and improve accuracy when communicating infornation with other healthcare providers. This will help to avoid medical mix-ups or one person's infornation being recorded on another patient's file.

Read more about Mental wellbeing

ALCOHOL

Your health & alcohol ... find the right mix.

“There is an estimated 12,300 Australian veterans with drug or alcohol dependence or abuse, and alcohol has been a major contributor to both mental and physical health problems in the veteran community.” Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Alan Griffin.

* Assess how alcohol affects you.

* Calculate weekly alcohol intake.

* Low risk drinking

* Risk factors

Details here

As Australians, alcohol is an important part of our culture and lifestyle. We like to relax, socialise, play sport, be with our family and friends but like all good things in life, moderation is the key. Alcohol allows us to relax, unwind and de-stress but drinking too much may have serious implications for your general health and quality of life. It is important that we manage our drinking to preserve our physical and mental health, no matter what age we are. Drinking to excess can have serious consequences to our relationships, finances, employment and many other aspects of our lives. It is important to help you get the right mix of alcohol so that your lifestyle and health is balanced out and you can enjoy alcohol without the risks. If you think you may be an at risk or would like to work on managing your alcohol intake then the VVCS Changing the Mix - Alcohol Correspondence Program is for you.

What is the Changing the Mix - Alcohol Correspondence Program?

Changing the mix

SUICIDE

As part of its election commitment, the Australian Government committed to conduct a study to examine the broad issue of suicide in the ex-service community, including a number of specific cases of suicide over the past three years, to help identify the following:

* ex-service members who are at increased risk of self harm

* common contributing factors among ex-service members who have committed or attempted suicide

* the extent of suicide in the ex-service community

* lifestyle or other factors that may be contributing to suicide in the ex-service community

* recommended administrative reforms or initiatives to help combat suicide in the ex-service community.

The Government appointed Professor David Dunt to undertake the study.

Details here