Healthy Veteran Highlights • June 2025

Making America’s Veterans Healthy Again (MAVHA)
By Major General Bob Dees, U.S. Army, Retired 

Defining Veteran Health 

Many of our Nation’s Veterans navigate trauma and woundedness of military service and never look back, moving into lives of purpose and continuing service to God, nation, and others.  They may need a tune up or a hand up now and then, but they are essentially healthy.  The reality, however, is that many more of our nation’s Veterans continue to look through the rear-view lens of their trauma, stuck in pain and aimlessness, with their families caught in the collateral crossfire.  These Veterans are not Healthy – but they can be. 

There are five key vectors of wellness that define HEALTHY: Physical, Mental, Spiritual, Emotional, and Relational (PMSER).  For brevity, let’s call this PMSER wellness, categorized in clusters below: 

• PHYSICAL:  Sleep Hygiene, Nutritional diet of natural food sources, Fitness (Aerobic, Strength, Flexibility), Hygiene (including dental flossing), beneficial use of supplements, awareness of “your numbers” (blood pressure, cholesterol, et al), elimination of environmental toxins 
• MENTAL:  Mental engagement and stimulation, Memory, Brain Health, Clarity and Communication, Screen regulation, Positive and Balanced Dopamine production 
• SPIRITUAL: Ethical development, mindfulness, prayer, faith practices related to a specific set of beliefs or value system, identity, purpose, relationship with a higher power, study and meditation on sacred texts 
• EMOTIONAL: Emotional Regulation, Anger Management, Constructive Speech, Self-esteem, Gratitude 
• RELATIONAL: Friends, Authentic and Accountable Relationships, Conflict Resolution, Forgiveness, Trust, Family and Parenting principles 

It must be noted that PMSER categories are frequently intertwined. For example, a good night’s sleep allows neurotransmitters to replenish and restore brain function (mental), reduces anxiety producing emotions (emotional), and allows the body time to heal (physical). In essence, we are complex integrated human organisms who are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:14) 

Primary PMSER Presenting Needs: 

The recently issued MAHA assessment of Children’s Chronic Disease listed four main causal factors: 1) Poor Diet exacerbated by Ultra-processed Foods, 2) Environmental exposure to chemical toxins, 3) Lack of Physical Activity, and 4) Over-medicalization, especially over medication. Each of these applies to the Veteran population as well as military related injuries including a spectrum of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), moral injury (MI), adverse childhood experiences (ACE) precipitated by challenging military service, and other physical trauma.  As well, Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) are co-morbid with many of these other conditions.  Finally, a high occurrence of diagnosed and undiagnosed personality disorders (PDs) further complicates Veteran therapy and healthcare.  These presenting needs and overall PMSER wellness must be addressed nationwide in order for Amercia’s Veterans to truly be healthy and able to continue to give back to America and others. 

THE NEED FOR DISTRIBUTED AND COMPLIMENTARY VETERAN CARE 

There are thousands of private sector Veteran outreach organizations who are doing noble work individually, as well as public sector entities starting with the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), Department of Health and Human Services, and similarly focused State and Local entities. At present, however, there is not sufficient public-private collaboration or a useful nesting of private sector organizations to provide comprehensive continuity of care. This presents several challenges: 

• The current DVA statistic reflects that roughly 30% of America’s Veterans are properly connected to the VA system.  The other 70% are in the “woodwork of America.”  Hence the first task is finding the Veterans who need comprehensive care, recognizing that those truly at-risk to suicide and other mental, behavioral, social challenges generally do not want to be found.  A far more active search and referral mechanism to find Veterans in need is required.  We must find them, then refer them to the right public or private organization that can meet their specific needs. This is hard. We must do better. 

• While the identification of promising therapeutic technologies continues to accelerate, there are no silver bullets.  Therapy or technology that may be highly effective for one Veteran often falls flat with others.  A holistic approach which offers a combination of therapeutic approaches is generally more effective in treating a broad range of Veteran issues.  Upfront diagnostic assessments of Veterans and pairing of most beneficial therapeutic approaches for that particular Veteran is essential.  As well, empiricals and process to assess the constant stream of emerging technologies are needed to separate the wheat from chaff. 

• Widespread knowledge of and partnership with varying organizational capabilities is also required.  As an example, there are a number of private organizations who provide permanent housing for Veterans.  This is certainly a necessary provision, but a roof does not solve life issues which the Veteran and his family drag with them. In addition to housing, food security, and basic health needs; the real question is how do we help at-risk Veterans and families “rewire the brain, reshape the heart, restore the soul?” This requires a comprehensive integration of proven best practices to effect true life change, growth, and an altered future for these Veterans.  

• Also on the subject of permanent housing for Veterans, the current administration recently announced plans to place 6,000 formerly homeless veterans into a VA facility in Los Angeles County.  This is a noble objective, but the desirability and feasibility of concentrating this large number of Veterans with significant life issues and probable AUD/SUD complications into a single housing area is a questionable approach.   

• Alternatively, the thesis of this white paper is that a distributed public-private network of complementary organizations networked nationally and regionally is sorely needed.  Critical to this network is a series of regional “healing platforms” (referred to as Healthy Veteran Centers, such as the National Center for Healthy Veterans prototype described below) that provide transition (nine-month) residential care and healing for Veterans (including formerly homeless, incarcerated, traumatized) on a State-by-State basis. 

A NATIONAL PROTOTYPE FOR COMPREHENSIVE VETERAN CARE  

This think piece seeks to address a critical gap in Veteran Care — specifically the need for longer term residential programs with a holistic integration of proven best practices that help at-risk Veterans achieve a true life reset which can only occur over months instead of days or weeks. In essence, a “crockpot in a microwave society.”  Such a longer-term residential, holistic program for at-risk Veterans is an important means to “Make America’s Veterans Healthy Again” (MAVHA). 

The Key Elements of the recommended National Prototype (referred to as Healthy Veteran Centers) are as follows: 

• Community (in tiny home villages) to defeat isolation, a primary cause of Veteran suicide. 

• Dignified Work to regain purpose and self-esteem. 

• Faith-based trauma recovery and life skills programs, integrating national best practice core programs along with mini-courses for financial literacy, sleep hygiene, family relationships, and others. 

• Career Preparation in trades or other professions to ensure professional success. 

• Natural healing platform to leverage the therapeutic power of God’s creation.  

• Comprehensive Therapy including conventional clinical therapy (licensed professional counseling), thorough PMSER assessments, equine assisted therapy, horsemanship, art and crafts therapy, and Agri therapy (nutritious food cultivation, plants, bees). 

• Referral Partners (public and private) who identify Veterans in need of participation in a longer-term Healthy Veteran Center. 

• Peer Mentors who coach Veterans toward growth and achievement of PMSER objectives.  

• Business model that promotes sustainability of a healthy food supply and revenue for ongoing operations.  

CONCLUSION 

A distributed public-private network of complementary organizations networked nationally and regionally is sorely needed to comprehensively address the significant health issues faced by America’s Veterans.  Critical to this network is a series of regional “healing platforms” (referred to as Healthy Veteran Centers, such as the National Center for Healthy Veterans prototype) that provide transition (nine-month) residential care and healing for Veterans (including formerly homeless, incarcerated, traumatized) on a State-by-State basis. 

Next Steps to Make America’s Veterans Healthy Again include: 

• Initiate a “Making America’s Veterans Healthy Again (MAVHA) Assessment” (similar to the initial HHS children’s health initiative) to better categorize the health and wellness challenges America’s Veterans face. 

• Promote further development of regional Healthy Veterans Centers such as described in this white paper. 

• HHS and VA establish a joint-working group to achieve an integrated solution to Veteran health and wellness, forming a public-private echelon of care that addresses the many different types and severities of challenges our nation’s Veterans face.   

• This integrated solution must include a “Search and Rescue” referral system for the Veterans in greatest need who generally don’t want to be found and who are most at-risk to suicide or societal disruption. While it is good to help reasonably healthy veterans get better (as many organizations do), it is essential that we develop a new capability to identify, refer, and truly help those who are still trapped in the iceberg of trauma and despair.  

Final Note: 

The Vision for the National Center for Healthy Veterans (NCHV) is to “Reshape the Nature of Veteran Care in America.”  In addition to establishing a national prototype to “Return Healthy Veterans to America,” NCHV is also well suited to be a nation thought leader for Veteran Care.  The observations and recommendations above are integral to this Vision and foundational to a MAHA movement on behalf of our nation’s Veterans (MAVHA).