Also in this issue:  

PVA President's Message  
By Gene A. Crayton
Although PVA commits many resources to monitoring VA healthcare, it heeds help to identify problems. PVA members can play a significant role in checking the services at SCI centers, outpatient clinics, and other facilities.

Reasons & Remarks redivivus  
By Richard Hoover
This issue contains a tribute to older veterans, who shine in the National Veterans Golden Age Game. We need to document the service of veterans by recording their stories. The Department of Veterans Affairs is offering a new medallion for the headstones of veterans not buried in national or state veterans cemeteries.

Readers Respond  
Traveling with children when you have a disability, VA formulary problems, PN cover.

Travel Tips  
Revelstoke, Canada, is a great destination when you want to get out of summer's heat. Flying Wheels Travel is offering a trip to Bavaria, Germany, at Christmas.

Research Update  
The Human Engineering Research Laboratories (HERL) staff conducted studies at the National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. VA cosponsored research using deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease. VA Research Week 2010 highlighted the department's accomplishments and saluted the veterans who participated in their investigations.

Diagnosis: MS  
On May 26, the world united to highlight the international effects of multiple sclerosis (MS). More than 200 events around the world marked a concerted effort to build awareness and enhance collaboration to end the disease.

Sexuality and SCI  
By Stanley S. Ducharme, PhD
Meeting women and dating has never been easy for most guys. The Internet has changed the dating scene. For men with SCI, the high-tech dating services have made it much easier and far less stressful to meet a potential partner. But it still requires a degree of confidence and courage.

A Closer Look  
By Rory A. Cooper, PhD
The U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs opened its facilities to welcome more than 180 wounded, injured, or ill U.S. servicemembers and veterans who competed in the first annual Warrior Games. The event was designed to present personal challenges through Paralympic sports. Athletes competed in four teams, one for each branch of the U.S. military: Army, Marines, Air Force, and Navy/Coast Guard. Former Paralympic athletes who are military veterans helped coach as they searched for new talent for U.S. teams. Events included track, field, swimming, shooting, wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball, and cycling. A new adaptive throwing chair for field events was unveiled.

Around the House  
By Laurence Weinstein
A healthy home involves a lot more than just sweeping up the dirt and vacuuming the carpets. The indoor air we breathe can contain numerous unhealthy pollutants, which are bad for everyone but especially for people with disabilities whose immune systems may already be compromised. This article discusses best practices to make our homes as healthful as possible.

On the Hill  

• PVA provided written testimony to the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, Subcommittee on Health, regarding pending legislation. These included issues to improve VA procedures, reduce risks to veterans seeking VA care, and provide increased benefits for vets and their families. Among these were H.R. 4062, the Veterans' Health and Radiation Safety Act; and the Improve VA Outreach Act of 2010.
• A hearing on military sexual trauma (MST) issues learns that VHA, VBA, and DOD must uncover better ways to treat vets impacted by MST and prevent future occurrences.
• In recent hearings, PVA discussed its vocational rehabilitation employment program, which has better success at achieving employment among severely disabled veterans than the historical average. Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) and Local Veterans Employment Representative (LVER) programs need improvement.

Living Well  
By Jessica Moreland, RN, BSN
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can affect anyone who has experienced a traumatic event. It's critical to be aware of its defining characteristics and its signs and symptoms, for it is often not diagnosed or may be confused with another disorder.

Sports and Recreation  

• 14th Annual PVA National Trapshoot Circuit: Florida Gulf Coast PVA's "Harry Plymire Memorial," Mid-America PVA Trapshoot, Colonial
• PVA Trapshoot.
• Paralyzed Veterans Golf Open.
• Poker Gives plans tournaments benefiting PVA and other charities.
• National Wheelchair Basketball Association championships.

Fish Tales  

• The Southeastern Challenge PVA Bass Tournament and Land of Lincoln PVA Bass Tournament.
• Salute to American Veterans 3-Man Bass Tournament.

Veteran Advisor  
By Bo Rollins

• The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) charges some veterans co-payments for medication prescriptions. Vets whose incomes are above a certain amount may still have to pay them.
• All enrolled veterans are authorized Homemaker/Home Health Aide (H/HHA) services when medically necessary as part of a comprehensive array of in-home services.

Do You Know?  
By Alder Allensworth, LMHC, MM, CFP®
Deciding that more care is needed than can be provided in the home, finding a facility, and figuring out how to pay for it can be overwhelming. This article, the second of three parts, focuses on life-care, assisted-living, and memory unit facilities. Any of the three can be a "home away from home."

On the Job  
Employment of veterans in the federal government is subject of House Veterans Affairs Committee review. Lack of results from Disabled Veterans Outreach Program (DVOP) and the Local Veterans Employment Representative (LVER) program. PVA recommends pilot program to follow up on veterans after they leave the unemployment rolls. PVA has successfully placed veterans through its new Vocational Rehabilitation Employment Program.

Newsbeat  

• Habitat for Humanity offers homes for veterans with disabilities in Southern California.
• VA's Memorial Day observances honor veterans.
• 2010 International VSA Festival showcases artists with disabilities.
• Walk to Defeat ALS raises funds in Alabama.
• VA announces Industry Innovation Competition.
• California winery designs philanthropic program to distribute wheelchairs to people who can't afford them.
• VA has updated its online Form 10-10EZ, "Application for Health Benefits."
• Inglis Foundation (Philadelphia) receives National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) recognition.

And Finally  
By Tony K. Boatright
After breaking my neck, I worked with a lot of therapists. But I now learned I have a communication problem: How do you handle body language when you're in a wheelchair? I need a body-language therapist!