February 22, 2022 - WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs seeks input from Veterans outdoor recreation groups on how it can facilitate the health and wellness of Veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors through improved access to public lands and other outdoor spaces.

Research shows access to the outdoors may contribute significantly to better health and well-being and VA wants to learn how it can best integrate outdoor experiences into its Whole-Health approach to providing care to Veterans and their families, caregivers and survivors. 

“We want to use this opportunity to understand how VA can work closely with Veterans outdoor recreation groups that have been leading the way in using outdoor experiences to help their fellow Veterans heal and stay healthy,” said Deputy Assistant Undersecretary for Health for Patient Care Services Maria Llorente, M.D. “We look forward to collaborating with our partners in making outdoor recreation a foundational piece of VA’s world-class, Whole-Health-based care.”

As part of this request for information, VA is asking individuals, groups and entities involved in providing Veterans outdoor recreation to submit comments, from Feb. 23 to March 25, to help guide the work of strengthening the relationship between VA and managers of public lands, identifying barriers that may prevent Veteran access to public lands to augment delivery of health and wellness services, and making recommendations to address those barriers.

The notice of request for public comment is scheduled to publish in the Federal Register Wednesday, February 23. However, an unofficial version of the document is available for viewing, Tuesday, February 22, at Federal Register public-inspection 2022-03734 request for information on Veterans outdoor recreation. The official version of this document, supporting documents and additional information about this document is scheduled to publish the morning of February 23.

Source: VA