My Life, My Story at Salisbury VA Health Care System
My Life, My Story (MLMS) is a VA Whole Health program where Veterans are interviewed about their life stories and/or military careers. The interview is written up into a first person narrative, reviewed with the Veteran and, with the Veteran’s permission, entered into the Veteran's VA health care record as a resource for the care team to know more about the Veteran as a person.
My Life, My Story (MLMS) is a VA program where Veterans are interviewed about their life story. The interview is written up into a first person narrative, reviewed with the Veteran and, with the Veteran’s permission, entered into the healthcare record as a resource for the care team to know more about the Veteran as a person, in their own words.
At Salisbury VA, we have framed MLMS as a structured educational intervention to enhance Veteran-centered, Whole Health care, with a focus on knowing the whole person and building the therapeutic relationship. MLMS allows healthcare providers to learn who Veterans are beyond their diagnoses.
Over 5,000 stories have been collected nationwide across 70 VA medical centers since the program's launch at VA in 2013.
How can I participate?
If you’d like to participate, you can send us an email at vhasbymylifemystory@va.gov or let someone from your care team know via Secure Message on My HealtheVet or at your next appointment. They will arrange for a member of the My Life My Story team to tell you more about the program and contact you to schedule an interview.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
If you are interested in participating in the program, the MLMS team will schedule a time for your interview.
After completion of the interview, it will take a few days to complete the write-up of your story. Once the draft is written, you will have the opportunity to review it and make any changes you’d like. After the draft is edited, it will be uploaded to your confidential VA medical records if you choose for your providers to access. You will be provided with paper copies at your request. We aim for completion within 30 business from intake of your initial story request to entry of the Veteran-approved story into your VA health care record.
Anything that makes you who YOU are as a person!
Some topics to consider:
- Childhood or upbringing
- Information about your schooling
- Military experience, including deployments or activations
- Work, jobs, career
- Family, and other important people in your life
- Medical concerns, past or present, and how they have affected you
- Hobbies, interests, skills
- Anything you wish your treatment team knew about you, but you never got around to saying
- Topics that matter to you but may not otherwise be discussed during your appointments
No problem. You can revoke your consent and participation in My Life, My Story at any time during the process.
Once you approve your story, it will be entered into your VA medical record only if you choose. You will also receive paper copies to keep for yourself and/or share with friends or family. If you consent to audio recording during your interview, the audio recording will be destroyed following completion of your story. Any recordings or notes related to your story will not be archived or shared with any VA employees outside of the My Life, My Story program team.
The interview itself will take about a 30 to 60 minutes on average. It depends on how much information you feel comfortable sharing. You may choose to schedule an in-person appoint to complete your interview at your local Salisbury VA facility in Charlotte, Kernersville, or Salisbury; or, if you prefer a virtual or telephone option instead of coming to an in-person appointment, those are available to you too.