WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
Joining Forces for Veterans
BY RITA KAUFMAN, CAE, AND RICK WADE
When associations pool their power, the
results can be astonishing in reach and
human impact. Take the case of Joining
Forces, a modest program that began in
Minnesota to help returning veterans and
their families. More than 30 national and
state associations teamed up to share the
Minnesota program with tens of thousands of physicians, nurses and other
health care professionals, clergy, social
workers, counselors and others across
America, raising awareness of the special
needs of men and women who have
served overseas, and improving the community’s ability to help them.
In late 2007, the four-part television
series “Joining Forces” aired on Minnesota’s Twin Cities Public Television. The
series was put together by HealthPartners
Institute for Medical Education, part of a
Minnesota-based health care system; the
Minnesota National Guard; and the staff
of the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Minneapolis.
Veterans were returning home from Iraq
and Afghanistan to resume their daily
lives. But many were confronting medical,
emotional, social and spiritual difficulties
associated with the stress of overseas
deployment and were turning to doctors,
hospitals, clinics and other groups in their
communities for help. But most caregivers
were unfamiliar with their conditions and
problems — many of which are difficult to
detect. Joining Forces first came together
as a conference designed to heighten the
awareness of physicians, nurses and others in the HealthPartners system to the
special needs of veterans and their families. The “teachers” were veterans and
their families, and physicians, nurses and
chaplains who care for them. That conference was reproduced for television and
became the Minnesota public television
series, with DVDs made available to hospitals and others across the state.
FINDING A PARTNER
HealthPartners brought Joining Forces to
the attention of the American Hospital
Association in December 2007, hoping it
could be made available to every hospital
in America. AHA realized Joining Forces
could be valuable education not only for
hospital caregivers, but also for people
and organizations in the broader community who touched the lives of veterans and
their families every day. But the cost of
reproducing tens of thousands of DVDs
and distributing them nationwide was
enormous and inefficient.
“‘Joining Forces’ was simple, direct and
compelling television. There was no complicated medical jargon, but real people
who needed care and those who cared for
them telling their stories and helping others to understand the needs of people who
had sacrificed in service to their country,”
says AHA President Rich Umbdenstock. To
make the series easily accessible, the four
episodes were mounted on a special Web
site,
joiningforcesonline.org, along with
other resources and educational materials.
SPREADING THE WORD
By late last summer, the Web site was
nearly ready. The communications challenge loomed large: How to put information about Joining Forces directly into the
hands of those who could use it immediately? Working with HealthPartners, the
AHA assembled a list of organizations
whose members reached the target audi-
ence for the programs. The organizations
would be asked to be part of a nationwide
initiative beginning shortly before Veterans
Day and continuing to the end of the year
to let their members and other audiences
know about Joining Forces. To give the
effort an extra boost, the groups received
the endorsement of Gen. Colin Powell,
USA Ret.
To maximize outreach to hospitals, the
AHA enlisted the help of the 50 state hospital associations, the Catholic Health
Association, the Federation of American
Hospitals and the Association of American Medical Colleges.
As information about Joining Forces
spread through the health care community, other associations eagerly signed on
to promote the programs. They were
groups whose members had a strong
commitment to the health of their communities, and to veterans and their families. The Association of Professional
Chaplains and the National Council of
Churches were early supporters.
There was a strong response from
physician and nurse associations and
organizations representing nurse executives, emergency and critical care nurses.
The outreach also attracted such diverse
groups as the American Public Health
Association, the YMCA of the USA and the
American Optometric Association — all
with members with strong presences in
communities across the country. Associations of social workers and advocates for
veterans joined the effort.
Although the initial plan was to promote Joining Forces and its Web site
through the end of 2008, the work goes on
and more associations still are taking part
— clearly illustrating what associations
can do when they join forces.
Rick Wade is the senior vice president for strategic
communications of the American Hospital
Association. He may be reached at
rwade@aha.org.
Rita Kaufman, CAE, is the marketing and
public relations manager of the Association of
Professional Chaplains. She may be reached at
rita@professionalchaplains.org.
