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Experts: VA suicide programs need more exposure

The Veterans Affairs Department has a myriad of programs to help prevent veterans’ suicide, but many — perhaps most — troubled veterans never get access to them, experts told lawmakers on Friday.

About 70 percent of all U.S. veterans have no contact with VA, making any program’s effectiveness limited.

“Why aren’t we buying targeted Facebook ads?” said Tom Tarantino, a former Army captain who is now with the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, testified at a hearing for the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s health panel.

Facebook would allow VA and others to “laser target” veterans and their families, he said. “We just don’t do that — and I don’t know why.”

Rep. David Roe, R-Tenn., pointed to several innovative ways to reach people, including a start-up effort by the Google online search engine to help better organize information about veterans’ services and also efforts by some cities to include veterans services on metropolitan 311 emergency phone lines.

“I think this new way to approach people … is one way we could communicate better,” said Roe.

Among the nearly 23 million veterans in the U.S., VA estimates suggest one dies by suicide every 80 minutes, experts said.

But even that staggering statistic may under-represent the problem, Tarantino said.

“There remains a fundamental, gap in understanding veterans’ suicide,” Tarantino said. “If we don’t look at the entirety of the problem, how do we hope to solve it?”

Traditional top-down media campaigns have limited effectiveness, said Thomas Berger, executive director of the Veterans Health Council of Vietnam Veterans of America.

“Veterans talk to one another. One of the ways of getting the word out is veteran-to-veteran — despite all the signs on the buses and the late-night videos. The fact of the matter is, if Tom calls me and Tom is having some problems, I’ll talk to him and I’ll suggest where he can go,” Berger said.

Many veterans are skeptical of VA, which despite its annual budget of about $123 billion is notorious for long waiting lists and ineffective care.

“When you have someone who has serous combat trauma and needs help … he can’t wait six weeks to get treatment,” Bergen said.

Outreach may only part of the problem, said Rene Campos, a retired Navy commander and health expert with the Military Officers Association of America.

“The system is overwhelmed,” Campos told lawmakers. “You have pockets where there aren’t enough resources and facilities and infrastructure.”