Queens Man Aims To Improve Veteran Healthcare With New Tool

FAR ROCKAWAY, QUEENS -- No one quite knew what to say to Dennis Graham when he returned from the Vietnam War in 1970 - So, they mostly said nothing.

It had been a traumatic year for the Queens man. He was injured twice in one night during combat, and he’d lost his share of friends in battle.

“It was a really difficult experience,” Graham, of Far Rockaway, told Patch. “When I came home, basically no one talked to me about it.”

Not his family, friends or the healthcare professionals tasked with caring for the afflictions he carried from the battlefields.

Now, Graham wants to make sure other veterans receive a warmer welcome home, and he's starting in the doctor's office.

“Healthcare providers don’t routinely ask patients how they served, what they did, etc.,” Graham said. “A vast majority of vets don’t get healthcare through the (Veterans Affairs) system.”

His solution is SOLDIERS - a guide for healthcare professionals who treat veterans. The acronym spells out a more thorough line of questioning that Graham wished someone would have asked him:

• S. Have you served in the military?
• O: What was your occupation?
• L: Length of time in the military
• D: Drugs, disease or exposure to death?
• I: injured on duty or combat?
• E: Environmental exposure to hazardous materials?
• R: Regrets or remorse?
• S: Stress, anxiety or depression related to service?

Graham launched his nonprofit, Center For Veterans Health, this January hoping to get the guide out to as many medical professionals as possible. It's now being piloted by roughly a dozen healthcare providers across the city, he said. Once they gauge its effectiveness, he hopes to pose his tool to the VA as a guide for healthcare providers treating veterans across the country.

“If you’re taking care of (veterans) and you don’t ask them, you’ll never know what their experience was,” he said. “We’re hoping it will become more common for healthcare providers in and out of the VA to ask about what people did in the service.”

His decision to launch the nonprofit in his hometown wasn’t a coincidence. U.S. Census data shows nearly 48,000 veterans live in Queens County, and about 3,000 of those veterans live in the Rockaways.

Graham worked as a nurse practitioner, which coupled with his military service gave him firsthand knowledge of the issues veterans face. Too many veterans commit suicide every day and never take advantage of services offered by the VA, he said.

Last summer, Graham attended a street fair and helped sign up about 80 veterans for VA services. He hopes to one day get his own nonprofit established enough to offer those services - such as support groups and veteran-to-veteran counseling - in house.

Until then, he plans to keep spreading the word about SOLDIERS so other veterans can start having those talks.

“I think the biggest problem that vets face everywhere is the ones having the most difficulty don’t talk about it,” he said. “It’s good to have another veteran start the conversation,” he said.

(Lead photo courtesy of Dennis Graham)