VeteranCaregiver provides peer-to-peer support and special assistance for Caregivers of Veterans, as well as
for 'singleton' Veterans.
We will all either be a caregiver or need a caregiver someday, Linda Kreter
This site is a bridge for caregivers and veterans alike. It is a safe place to air questions and frustrations on and offline, but we also provide individualized assistance when you've hit the wall. As a veteran or a caregiver of a veteran, your life may be significantly altered by injury, illness, or aging. If you're feeling isolated or alone, want/need people around you who "get it", and you'd benefit from networking with peers and professionals, community health and recovery resources, you've come to the only site of its kind. VeteranCaregiver is here to fill the need for acknowledgement, mentoring as only peers can do, and to provide accessible support from others who share or can address your challenges.
We are completely self-funded and philanthropic. The simple truth is that caregiving is not at all "sexy" – it's not a golf tournament, nor a companion dog. Instead, it's the grittier side of surviving with visible and invisible injuries, often fighting for VA care and benefits, trying to make a new normal out of a very challenging reality, and reaching through the bureaucratic numbness of such a large medical organization that may act harshly due to sheer numbers.
It is unusual for the VA and veterans organizations to take the opportunity to publicly help with either information or contact of our online community members. Consequently, we work quietly behind the scenes to resolve countless requests for support, intervention, and solutions. To date, we have prevented 54 veteran and 32 caregiver suicides, have arrangements with the crisis lines, relationships with the TBI, PTSD, polytrauma, PT, hearing, pain management, and other federal and community organizations, and help to resolve the issues in each family or individual situation daily.
We guide families to resources they may be unaware of, or with whom they've had no success. Each state has varying contacts with which to interact, and we are nearby Washington, DC, so can reach many legislative contacts and both the Congressional and Senate VA committees. You will notice that the message board postings are usually in time sections when people are very frustrated, then they find help, and often move forward with their lives. We look on problem resolution as a very good thing. We also work with a nationwide ad hoc group of experts in an advisory role when there is need for unusual advocacy or connection. We would love to have you as an additional resource, and if there is a specific way you'd like to help, we are most grateful! Please sign up as a volunteer on the Homepage; even an hour a week is greatly appreciated and may be done at home with no pressure.
Websites abound, but in reality, it's the people who care and act responsibly to support you that will help bridge your days from one to the next. Thank you for joining us; we welcome your feedback.
Linda Kreter
Founder & CEO
WiseHealth, Inc.
410-777-5217
Linda Kreter, Founder & CEO. Ms. Kreter is the former founder (1994) and CEO of Pharmaceutical Research Plus, Inc.; creating the niche market of accelerating patient recruitment for clinical trials. With a combination of unique software and exceptional call center physican/study coordinator customer support, PRP cut over 25 years from clinical drug development time. After the sale of PRP and upon leaving the company in 2004, her focus shifted to providing innovative software solutions to improve health and wellness education, and communication support for children and military families.
With the integrated divisions of WiseHealth, Linda has brought a user-driven, inventive approach to essential high-tech, high-touch platforms that extend the reach of family programs. Most recently, Linda has focused on vital proactive Caregiver Peer Support and responsive follow-through via VeteranCaregiver, connecting service and veteran families with agency and community programs. With direct support of Veteran and Wounded Warrior families, Linda is recognized as a subject matter expert for military/veteran Caregiving and regularly speaks and promotes peer-to-peer support and crucial two-way communication for families of the injured, ill, and/or wounded.
An additional by-product of VeteranCaregiver's peer network has been noteworthy success in Suicide Prevention. By recognizing and spreading awareness of the precursors of suicide (family history, anxiety, depression, financial and emotional strain and risky behaviors), hundreds of Veterans have been guided to needed clinical help. She earned her degree in biology from Smith College.
Veterans, Wounded Warriors, and Service Family Advisors. WiseHealth is grateful for the ongoing volunteer efforts of caregivers, service members and veterans. Caregivers from both the active duty and veteran community assist in recommending and vetting new online features to best support family caregivers, wounded warriors, and service families for VeteranCaregiver.com. Wounded Warriors and Veterans are especially crucial in providing real-time feedback to newly-emerging issues along the care continuum and in Suicide Prevention. This is an ever-evolving team seeking compassionate care and improved communications for the best physical and mental health outcomes. We express our sincere appreciation for their contributions.