Read the pledges Change Grow Live has made to support veterans that use its services.
UK Armed Forces veterans have specific support needs. In comparison to the public, the prevalence of substance use and health issues are higher within UK Armed Forces veterans.
Veterans are less likely to seek support, more likely to have complex needs, which means they often have poorer treatment outcomes when they do reach out for help. Greater awareness of veteran support need has influenced government decisions to provide support specifically tailored for veterans. You can find out more by taking a look at the Veterans Strategy Action Plan 2022 – 2024.
“I was made aware of a vast range of support available to veterans; support I did not even know existed.” Read Michael’s story
Changes to the Armed Forces Bill 2021 means that all public bodies (which includes our commissioners, NHS and local/central government) must give ‘due regard’ to UK Armed Forces Veterans. Many of these bodies have now made changes to the way they work so they can identify and respond to veteran support needs. By listening to veterans using services, Change Grow Live signed the Armed Forces covenant and have pledged to:
- Raise awareness of appropriate support for veterans with staff and veterans who use our services.
- Where possible, assist veterans and their families in accessing the support they require.
- Continue to develop and build on our commitment towards the Armed Forces Covenant.
- We have made changes to align ourselves with the public bodies affected by the legislative changes. This has allowed us to ensure services are accessible to anyone who needs them.
These changes include:
- Amended the case management system to identify veterans using our services.
- Coproduced training with veterans using services to raise awareness of veteran support needs and the support available.
- Coproduced a leaflet for veterans using our services to raise awareness of the support available to meet their needs.
- Established relationships with external providers of veteran support.
To raise awareness of this support we will be encouraging services to print and share the veteran support leaflet that is being undertaken and use the Armed Forces Covenant logo in their communications with others, to show our ongoing commitments to the Armed Forces Covenant.
Read the original post here.
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