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5 playing cards are displayed in an accordion fashion, laying flat on a table. The first card has the number for the Women Veteran's Call Center (855-VA-WOMEN or 1-855-829-6636) and a message, "Call for free services for women Veterans." The second card, the 3 of hearts, shows a picture of waves on a beach and the message, "Emotions are like waves." The third card is the Jack of clubs, and it says, "Feel your heart beating. Feel your feet on the ground." The fourth card is the King of diamonds, and it says, "I have a purpose." The fifth and final card is the Ace of spades, and it shows the logo for the Homeless Veterans call line (877-4AID-VET, or 877-424-3838) and the message, "Call for help with VA housing or mental health services."

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Cards for Connection

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Cards for Connection makes it easier for Veterans to access VA resources by literally putting the numbers they most need in their hands, and they benefit employees conducting outreach with Veterans as they provide a durable resource that Veterans are more likely to hold onto. The cards are inexpensive, easy to carry, and discreet. Cards are non-stigmatizing, easy to use, familiar for Veterans, and provide repeated exposure to coping skills and critical VA resources, leading to increased access to VA services.

This innovation is scaling widely with the support of national stakeholders. See more scaling innovations.

Adoptions:

11 successful

Awards and Recognition:

2018 Audience Choice Award at the VISN 1 5th Annual Improvement & Innovation Summit, iNET Seed Investee, iNet Spark Award Investee

Partners:

VHA Innovators Network

5 playing cards are displayed in an accordion fashion, laying flat on a table. The first card has the number for the Women Veteran's Call Center (855-VA-WOMEN or 1-855-829-6636) and a message, "Call for free services for women Veterans." The second card, the 3 of hearts, shows a picture of waves on a beach and the message, "Emotions are like waves." The third card is the Jack of clubs, and it says, "Feel your heart beating. Feel your feet on the ground." The fourth card is the King of diamonds, and it says, "I have a purpose." The fifth and final card is the Ace of spades, and it shows the logo for the Homeless Veterans call line (877-4AID-VET, or 877-424-3838) and the message, "Call for help with VA housing or mental health services."

Tags:

Access to Care Community Care Inpatient Care Mental Health Outpatient Care Primary Care Psychiatry Rural Health Suicide Prevention Veteran Experience
Contact Team

Overview

Problem

Veterans experiencing homelessness typically have very limited access to VA services or evidence-based mental health treatment. If VA is to increase access to care and address the unmet mental health needs of these Veterans, new, innovative, and highly cost-effective methods for reaching these populations are critical.

Solution

Using a human-centered design process, we created Cards for Connection, functional playing cards that contain brief messages on the fronts, including critical phone numbers (like the Veterans Crisis Line) and coping skills (e.g., “Breathe”). The cards are packaged in a waterproof case, alongside a mini permanent marker, which can be used to write on cards th ... See more

Results

The initial 2,000 decks spread much faster and farther than anticipated. It quickly became apparent that all Veterans could benefit from the cards, not just those experiencing homelessness. Thanks to community outreach, VSOs, Vet Centers, and other non-profits also requested and distributed the card decks. In FY19/20 13,000 additional decks were purchased wi ... See more

Metrics

  • 45,000 Veterans have received the cards
  • 92% of recipients said they were a Veteran (from anonymous postcard included with card deck)
  • 84% of recipients said they had played with the cards
  • 85% of recipients said they had used some of the skills on the cards
  • 30% of recipients said they had used some of the phone numbers on the cards
  • 4.45: Average rating of the cards, on a scale of 1 (Hate them) to 5 (Love them)
  • Favorite card messages: I can do this/I have a purpose/I am worth it.

Diffusion tracker

Does not include Clinical Resource Hubs (CRH)

Statuses

CA: Modesto VA Clinic (Modesto) CA: Palo Alto VA Medical Center (Palo Alto, California) CA: Palo Alto VA Medical Center-Menlo Park (Palo Alto Menlo Park) CA: San Francisco VA Medical Center (San Francisco) FL: The Villages VA Clinic (The Villages) MA: Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Bedford) MS: Biloxi VA Medical Center (Biloxi) NC: Charles George Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center (Asheville) OH: Chalmers P. Wylie Veterans Outpatient Clinic (Columbus, Ohio) OH: Cincinnati VA Medical Center (Cincinnati, Ohio) VT: White River Junction VA Medical Center (White River Junction)

There are no in-progress adoptions for this innovation.

There are no unsuccessful adoptions for this innovation.

Multimedia

Images

During a Human-Centered Design workshop hosted by Drs. Kayt Havens and Shannon McCaslin, we fleshed out the idea for Cards for Connection using content from discovery interviews with two Veterans who work with homeless Veterans, one of whom had previously experienced homelessness. By the end of the workshop we had our first prototype and enough of an idea to start interviews with key stakeholders, to assess acceptability and feasibility for the idea.

We received our first real decks in August 2018. That fall, we conducted focus groups with homeless Veterans living in residential programs to see how they used the cards, and several spontaneously sorted them to identify their favorites. These are the cards selected by one Veteran.

Shortly after the card decks arrived, a Peer Support Specialist came to visit Katie to pick up some decks to distribute. He had helped to generate content for the cards, and this was his first time seeing the professionally produced decks. As he flipped through the cards, he landed on this one and showed it to Katie, saying, "Thank you. You made this happen, and you should be proud of how many people you're going to help."

Current versions of the cards, in a durable plastic case, with a mini permanent marker that can be used to write on the cards (e.g., "Write the number of a local resource or person who can help you. ____________").

Videos

This pitch video was produced in 2018 to describe the idea. Since then, we have produced and distributed over 2,000 decks at more than 13 locations. In 2019, we will order and distribute 13,000 decks at VAs and Vet Centers across the country.

Implementation

Timeline

  • 1 month
    Identify where (in which services) to disseminate cards, provide overview of purpose to staff
  • 2-3 months
    Order cards and personalize insert
  • Variable, depends on how many decks are ordered - likely 2-3 weeks
    Assemble decks and inserts
  • Variable, depends on how many decks are ordered and in how many locations they are distributed
    Distribute decks

Departments

  • Mental health care
  • Social work
  • Addiction and substance abuse treatment
  • Psychology
  • Recreation and creative arts therapy
  • Suicide prevention
  • Whole health
  • Homeless Veteran care

Core Resources

Resource type Resource description
PEOPLE
  • The cards can typically be added to existing inpatient/outreach programs - anyone responsible for sharing resources with Veterans could integrate these into their work.
TOOLS
  • No tools, but depending on how many decks are ordered a space for storage may need to be set aside in advance of receiving them.

Files

  • This infographic describes the state of the project after the first year. Infographic
  • This infographic describes the current state of the project. 2022 Infographic

Links

Risks and mitigations

Risk Mitigation
Veterans may not like the cards. In our experience to date this has not been an issue, but if a Veteran doesn't like them they can receive information via paper brochures or online.
Staff may be unsure of how to use the cards. We are creating a 1-2 page implementation guide to highlight how the cards can be used with Veterans (beyond just handing them out, although that is an option).
Staff may be unwilling to distribute cards. To date we have worked with site champions who have been very enthusiastic about the cards, and they have spread that enthusiasm to other staff. The "opt in" approach exempts those not interested in distributing them.

Contact

Comment

Comments and replies are disabled for retired innovations and non-VA users.

VA User (Psychologist) Innovation adopter posted

Great product! We distributed a bunch of these cards and would like to locally purchase more. Can I get the product order details to be able to order some? Thanks!

1
VA User (Chief Wellness Officer) posted

We are interested in this tool but wondering about cost- does the facility ordering the cards pay for them or how is that arranged?

1
VA User (Peer Specialist) Innovation adopter posted

I have distributed over 500 decks of these cards. I work in an outpatient VA mental program and spend time on the acute mental health ward. The power of these cards cannot be overstated.

2
VA User (Program Support Assistant, SBYVAMC) posted

where would I order the cards from ?

1
VA User (Community Engagement and Partnership Coordinator) posted

This is great. These human-centered design projects are a fantastic way for veterans to share their knowledge and solutions with the VA.

1
VA User (Innovation Specialist) Innovation adopter posted

We are currently adopting this practice in association with Whole Health

2
VA User (PRRC AMSA) posted

I brought this up to our VA-PRRC team and we need to know the vendor for this item to see about getting this approved for our program. How do I find this out and are they on the SAMs approved vendor list?

3
VA User (Program Support Assistant) posted

I can see this being used in all the inpatient psych wards. I think that they would be great at the Fisher Houses also to keep veterans families engaged.

2
VA User (Volunteer Service Specialist) posted

This seems like a very interesting approach and a resource our team would be very interested in learning more about.

3

Email

Email with questions about this innovation.

About

Origin story

Katie Juhasz routinely attended community events to share PTSD resources. Increasingly, people asked for resources for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Paper handouts weren't particularly durable, and many Veterans do not have reliable access to the internet. Katie wanted something easily accessible and discreet, that would provide useful information in a ... Katie Juhasz routinely attended community events to share PTSD resources. Increasingly, people asked for resources for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Paper handouts weren't particularly durable, and many Veterans do not have reliable access to the internet. Katie wanted something easily accessible and discreet, that would provide useful information in a durable format. The Veterans Crisis Line had plastic-coated wallet cards that people liked; if one card was good, 52 should be great! We created Cards for Connection with the support of an iNet Spark award, and we expanded its reach with a Seed award and funding from the National Center for PTSD.

Original team

Katherine Juhasz

Team lead

Jeremy Tevis

Graphic Designer

Elizabeth Williams

Innovation Specialist

Shannon McCaslin

Clinical Psychologist

Nicole Muller

Social Worker

Erik Ontiveros

Peer Support Specialist

Melissa McHarg

Rocky Mountain MIRECC POC

Search tags

Access to Care Community Care Inpatient Care Mental Health Outpatient Care Primary Care Psychiatry Rural Health Suicide Prevention Veteran Experience