Caregivers

Four years ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs launched an ambitious initiative to cure all VA patients with chronic hepatitis C. Today, the department is more than three-quarters of the way, healing nearly 100,000 veterans of the virus, with 26,000 more to go.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Mindfulness therapy may be an effective way of mitigating the stress experienced by spouses and other informal caregivers for military veterans, a new study by researchers at the University of Illinois suggests.

Kinesiology and community health professor Sandraluz Lara-Cinisomo led a pilot study that taught caregivers of veterans in central Illinois mindfulness-based cognitive therapy skills. The caregivers in the treatment group - mostly women caring for their spouses - reported significant decreases in their perceived levels of stress, anxiety and worry.

VA and The Independence Fund will reunite Veterans who have experienced some of the toughest combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan to engage in dialogue in ways that empower them to improve their overall well-being.

The goal of the pilot program, Operation Resiliency, is to use the common bonds of Veterans who served together to facilitate a collective effort to address personal post-military difficulties, and address any lingering effects of trauma before Veterans find themselves in crisis.

The Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday announced it would temporarily stop discharging veterans from a program that provides compensation and benefits to family members who take care of them.