MARQUETTE, Mich (WZMQ) – Our Veteran community is seeing some extra help through a survey that assesses the needs of these heroes. Through a new development by I-REACH (Improving Rural Enrollment, Access, and Healthcare for Rural Veterans), a survey was developed to identify areas of a veteran’s life that they might be struggling with.
Dr. Emre Umucu helped to develop the survey that is addressing what Veterans might be challenged by and it’s helping to create more avenues of care. “Sometimes some veterans may have really caring caregivers that is a great resource but not all veterans have that…so then that is a need”, said Dr. Umucu.
Link to the Michigan survey: https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_e97ZjZpaZWcb6jc
Linke to the U.S. level survey: https://msu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZRmbOKrlebpVyK
In Michigan, according to officials at I-REACH, there are over 567 thousand Veterans, and around 55% of them are not accessing all their benefits. “If we can pinpoint where the largest gaps are and address those then that’s just more beneficial to the veterans and their families”, said I-REACH Director Jim Yates.
To participate in this survey, you must be a veteran, caregiver, or health care provider. Aiming to help identify the challenges and barriers that Veterans may face on a daily basis. The survey asks for your age and gender and listed are more questions regarding your service if you are a Veteran.
This survey was also just recently approved to serve the rest of the nation. This survey can gift the community of Veterans another route of communicating their needs. Dr. Umucu comments that his research focuses on improving psychosocial adjustments and well-being, including helping those with disabilities.