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My Life, My Story (MLMS)
Share PrintProgram staff, students, and trained VA volunteers conduct interviews with Veteran patients and write up short stories about their lives. The Veteran reviews and edits the story and receives printed copies. With the Veteran's permission the story is also uploaded to their medical record and shared with their VA care team. The stories honor the voices and lived experience of the Veterans we care for.
Origin:
March 2013, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans' Hospital (Madison)
Adoptions:
69 successful, 10 in-progress
Awards and Recognition:
Diffusion of Excellence Promising Practice, VHA Shark Tank Winner
Partners:
Diffusion of Excellence, Office of Connected Care, Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation, Veterans Experience Office, VHA Innovators Network
Recent Updates
Overview
Problem
"I get so busy, and am so caught up with the medical concerns of my patients’ care that I rarely take the time to learn about their personal lives in much detail." – VA Provider
Solution
Videos
Listen to Veterans Who've Told Their Story
Results
“I think that this program could completely change the face of the VA. With an interview like this, you’re able to get so much more information. A provider can’t get that when they talk to you for 10 mi ... “The interview was enjoyable. I said things that I had never told anyone. I am now saying those things to my friends and family. It feels good.” - Veteran
“I think that this program could completely change the face of the VA. With an interview like this, you’re able to get so much more information. A provider can’t get that when they talk to you for 10 minutes. Even if you do get asked about your story, you get tired of telling it over and over, you hold back information. With this interview, I got it out and it’s in the record. I don’t have to talk about the hard stuff if I don’t want to. I don’t have to be strong and put on the soldier face. I know it’s there for the provider to read.” - Veteran
“I thought it was a good thing to look back at life, from this point of my life. Was very surprised when I next saw my health provider and was told he read it.” - Veteran See more
- VA providers' perception of My Life, My Story: 2014 - 2017 Stories Change the Story
Files
Diffusion tracker
Does not include Clinical Resource Hubs (CRH)
Multimedia
Images
"When I came back home I was on crutches. Nobody told me not to wear my uniform. I was working my way through San Francisco International Airport – this proud Marine with his ribbons and stuff – when I saw her coming. She had on a long fur coat and had long black hair. I don't know what made me look at her, but I saw her and she saw me and she was coming right at me. I was watching her – her eyes, her hands. Finally, I just stopped and she came up to me. She looked at me. She had beautiful brown eyes. She put her finger on my chest. She said, “You're nothing but a hitman for the U.S. government,” turned around, and walked away. I thought to myself, “Welcome home.” That's probably why I haven't talked a lot in 50 years."
"I’ve been getting to know other Indians and going to Pow Wows. Getting my Indianness back. I became a Sun Dancer and I’ve gone to North Dakota for that for many years. It’s become the mainstay of my life. We keep the Sun Dance tradition alive and that’s an honor."
"I will start from the time that I changed from a happy girl to a mature teenager. In 1939, I was just 11 years old. We were listening to the radio and heard an alarm. They announced that the German army had crossed the Polish border and airplanes were on their way to Warsaw. And soon we heard the sirens. They started bombing. I was in the Girl Scouts and the first thing that I did for my country was to put on my armband, go down to the street, stand on the corner and try to help direct people to safety. The Germans dropped cluster bombs that would burn everything. In those first days Warsaw was on fire."
Videos
Hear From VA Providers Who Read the Stories
Implementation
Departments
- Mental health care
- Medical records
- Recreation and creative arts therapy
- Whole health
Core Resources
| Resource type | Resource description |
|---|---|
PEOPLE |
|
PROCESSES |
|
Files
- Four sample stories from Veterans who were interviewed MLMS Sample Stories
- The impact of My Story notes in the chart on VA providers. My Life, My Story: Sustained Impact of Veterans’ Personal Narratives on Healthcare Providers 5 Years After Implementation
- Journal article in Gerontology and Geriatrics Education My life, my story: Teaching patient centered care competencies for older adults through life story work
- Journal article in Federal Practitioner Using Life Stories to Connect Veterans and Providers
Links
- New York Times - 2-26-2021 Learning to Listen to Patients’ Stories
- Forbes.com - 8/25/2019 A Novel Program at VA Hospitals Uses An Old-World Tradition To Advance Patient Care
- National Public Radio - 6/8/2019 Storytelling Helps Hospital Staff Discover The Person Within The Patient
- VA.gov - 2/14/2018 My Life, My Story: Advancing the Veteran Experience
- Nursing Science Quarterly - 9/18/2021 The VA Storybook Program: Humanizing Care With Nurse Stories
Risks and mitigations
| Risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Inadequate staffing | Hire a 0.5 - 1.0 FTE Writer-Editor (GS-9) to manage the program. |
| Lack of training | One day of onsite training at your facility for the My Life, My Story team. The My Life, My Story lead or champion can complete a two-day training workshop at Madison VA. |
| Poor quality stories | Hire the right person as Writer-Editor, find volunteers with good writing skills, and train them. |
Contact
Comment
Comments and replies are disabled for retired innovations and non-VA users.
Email mystory@va.gov with questions about this innovation.
About
Origin story
Original team
Thor Ringler
My Life, My Story National Program Manager
Seth Jovaag
Writer-Editor
At VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System (Las Vegas VA) there is growing team from the Associate Chief of Staff for Education, Behavioral Health, Geriatrics and Palliative Care working with health professional trainees (Medical Students, Resident Physicians, Psychology Interns) to compose MLMS stories on selected veterans. Feel free to reach out if you have any staff, trainees, or points of contact within volunteer services who would be interested in hearing more and possibly participating.
I am a librarian at a VA who has a great interest in Oral history. how can I get involved?
we have students from a local college completing service learner requirements
Thanks for letting us know. That's a great idea!