A Friday conference in Chattanooga will share information with veterans and the people who serve them.
The “We Honor Veterans Conference” is a one-day event open to veterans, their families and agencies that serve veterans. The Chattanooga Veterans Coalition is hosting the event, which is funded by a federal grant to Hospice of Chattanooga.
“We’re hoping veterans and their families and agencies who serve veterans hospitals come to get knowledge,” said Sherry Campbell, grant coordinator for Hospice of Chattanooga.
IF YOU GO* What: We Honor Veterans Conference* When: 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Friday* Where: Sheraton Read House, 827 Broad St., Chattanooga* Who: For veterans, their families and veterans service agencies* Cost: FreeSource: Chattanooga Veterans Coalition
Event speakers will highlight tips for navigating the Veterans Administration benefits and services for veterans, available counseling centers, medical benefits and help for service workers on assisting veterans with specific needs.
The conference will feature speakers from the Southeast Tennessee Area Agency on Aging and Disability, the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs, the Chattanooga Vet Center, Siskin Hospital and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.
Also speaking is Deborah Grassman, whose book, “Peace at Last,” chronicles her nearly three decades of work with veterans, especially veterans in hospice care.
In a telephone interview, Grassman said she learned valuable lessons working in hospice with veterans, including the different challenges veterans face near the end of their lives.
Confronting a recurring stoicism among veterans in end-of-life care, she learned that she needed different approaches to open up their emotions, to work with potential feelings of guilt in combat veterans and to watch for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Some kind of simple statement that lets the veteran know it’s OK to cry,” can be tremendously helpful, she said.
At the end of life, many combat veterans with PTSD might face more vivid flashbacks and want to seclude themselves, she said, but “talking to them about what’s on their mind” can help the veteran get the thoughts out and “diminish their need to act it out.”