Director's Message February 24, 2023

Here at VA Pacific Islands Health Care System (VAPIHCS) we don’t want to simply diagnose symptoms and prescribe medication. The concept of Whole Health is about the belief that looking at a person overall is beneficial to treatment outcomes. That can mean things like offering smoking cessation programs to help you breathe easier during exercise and recreational activities. It can mean exploring yoga and acupuncture for pain instead of medication, as a way to reduce treatment side-effects and increase your quality of life. And, it can mean offering you the mental health care that you need, including Intimate Partner Violence Prevention (IVAP) programs and Chaplain Services.

When it comes to reducing your risks of developing cancer, many of the things that our Whole Health Program offers can help. We know that quitting smoking today can greatly reduce your risk of many types of cancer in the future. Exercise can also help lower your risk for some cancers. However, we also want you to let us know if you had toxic exposures during your military service. Even veterans who never served in a combat situation may still have had to burned classified materials or spent time handling dangerous materials as part of their jobs. Let your doctor know. This will allow us to screen you for related cancers, and potentially catch something in time to treat it instead of catching it after it is too late.

Sometimes, seeing the doctor can feel intimidating. I recommend making a list of things you want to discuss before you see your Primary Care provider. If you want to increase your exercise, add it to the list. If you need to let your doctor know about potential toxic exposures, put it on the list. Having the paper in your hand when you go can really help you to ensure that you cover everything you want to say and get the most out of your doctors visits. Make a list of things you want to talk about and call us to make an appointment today at 1-800-214-1306.

Physical Activity for People with Disabilities

Everybody needs physical activity for good health. However, less than half of US adults with serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs (mobility disability) report engaging in aerobic physical activity. For those who are active, most report barriers outside the home like a lack of sidewalks, ramps, and other accessibility. Physical activity plays an important role in maintaining health, well-being, and quality of life. It can help control weight gain, lower risk of heart disease, make patients less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, and even lower the risk of some cancers.

To help physical activity become more accessible to those with disabilities, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made recommendations for developing more disability friendly communities. However, they have also created exercise videos that help people find ways to do physical activity in their homes. If you have a physical disability that makes exercise more difficult, I encourage you to look into the offerings from the CDC for disabled Americans and see what parts of their program might benefit you.

VAPIHCS Talk Story

Here at VAPIHCS, we want to put information out in as many ways as possible, so that you can find the way that works for you. That’s why we have a website with simple, stream-lined information for those who prefer to look things up online. We also have a Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, for people who prefer some type of social media.

Now, we have a new way to get information to you, and it’s called “VAPIHCS Talk Story.” VAPIHCS Talk Story is a podcast, and it’s free to stream online. You can also download it to your smartphone or music player. In this podcast, our Public Affairs Officer Amy Rohlfs sits down to talk story with people who work for VA, and those who don’t; with the goal to cover things that matter to veterans of the Pacific Islands. I highly recommend giving this podcast a listen. It will give you insight into topics of interest to you, and further our goal to inform and educate about what we do here.

Thoughts from Chaplain Richie Charles

Situated within a deep valley and surrounded by lofty mountains lies the beautiful village of Rjukan, Norway. The high mountains leave the residents of Rjukan with one problem: they block the sun during the winter season, leaving the village in a melancholic state of gloom for up to six months of the year. Every year, the people of Rjukan have had to endure living in a state of shade and relative darkness once the winter season rolled around. But the town leaders got a bright idea - an idea that would help illuminate their village during those murky months. They figured that rather than continue to endure the dark winters, waiting for the season to pass, they would instead “bring” the sun to themselves.

In 2013, the village installed an array of three gigantic 550-square-foot mirrors on a nearby mountain, a thousand feet above the town. The computer-controlled and solar-powered mirrors would track the sun through the winter months and reflect a giant beam of sunshine down to the town square. For the first time, the people of Rjukan could enjoy a brighter winter season.

The inhabitants of Rjukan remind us that some things in life will only change when we decide to address them. Rather than “waiting for the sun," that is, for circumstances to improve, some things in life will only change when we change them.

During this Black History month, I can think of many Civil Rights pioneers, such as W.E.B. Du Bois, Rosa Parks, John Lewis, and others, who did not merely wait for needed change but instead actively sought to bring about the change they saw that was needed.

It’s been said that “the best way to predict the future is to create it.”

Do you ever find yourself “waiting for the sun?" What are some ways that you can begin “bringing the sun” to you?

One Team, One Ohana!

Adam M. Robinson, Jr., MD, MBA, CPE
Director, VA Pacific Islands Health Care System
VADM, MC, USN, (RET)
36th Surgeon General, USN

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