As the pandemic reveals how physical, mental and financial well-being are intertwined, it’s becoming clear that
While 60% of veterans are eligible for care through the Department of Veteran Affairs, fewer than half use VA benefits, according to the global policy think tank, RAND. A veteran himself, Taylor Justice knows firsthand how difficult it is to seek out and connect with the right resources and providers. In response, he launched Unite Us, a health and social care network that puts health and social care providers in communication with one another to address the needs of those in their community.
“People seeking help in these communities often don’t know where to begin or feel burnt out from filling out mountains of paperwork that cause them to relive traumatic experiences,” says Justice, who serves as co-founder and president of Unite Us. “So we invest heavily in understanding what drives community-level needs and building a targeted network of resources for each one.”
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With its coordinated care networks in over 43 states across the country, Unite Us works to resolve a lack of housing, food insecurity, unemployment and mental health for veterans as well as at-risk groups in a given community. These networks have made a difference: within the communities it serves, Unite Us claims to have solved 92% of food assistance-related challenges, 74% of employment-related challenges and 70% of housing-related challenges.
Employee Benefit News spoke to Justice to get a closer look at what it means to connect health and social care under one network, and what this could mean for communities across America.
What inspired you to create Unite Us?
When my co-founder and I returned from military service, we saw a profound gap in health and social care services for military personnel and their families, transitioning back to civilian life. Before launching Unite Us, we’d spend hours every day searching for services online, filling out paperwork and making phone calls to help fellow veterans get the care they needed. Veterans don’t always know where or how to seek help. Many struggle with post-traumatic stress or other challenges, and it can be incredibly difficult for them to repeatedly share their story with providers.
We realized there had to be a better way. We started Unite Us with the goal of eliminating the existing silos between health and social service providers.
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How does Unite Us bridge the gap between health and social care?
Through our technology and coordinated care networks of health and social service providers. With Unite Us, providers across sectors can send and receive secure electronic referrals, track every person’s health journey and report on tangible outcomes across a full range of services in a centralized and collaborative ecosystem. Our team also works to build authentic, lasting partnerships with local organizations. This social infrastructure helps communities transform their ability to work together and measure impact.
For example, Monica — who is a volunteer at Operation Troop Appreciation in Pittsburgh, PA — was contacted by a sheriff who had been called to the home of a local veteran named Dave. Dave had returned recently from Iraq and was battling post-traumatic stress disorder. When Monica received the call about Dave, she knew exactly what to do.
She took all the information from the sheriff and reached out to Dave to set up a Unite Us profile with his consent. Within days, Dave had been connected to several agencies for the medical care he needed, such as basic needs for his family, housing assistance and a year of transportation from Operation Troop Appreciation so he no longer had to walk 10 miles each day to get to and from his college program. Through a coordinated care network, Monica was able to follow Dave’s journey and ensure he was receiving all the necessary services. Five years later, Dave graduated from college and is working full-time with all the right support in place to ensure his continued success.
Why is there a gap between healthcare and social services to begin with?
Our health and social care delivery system is fragmented, and social care is not on the same priority level as health care. Before Unite Us, organizations lacked a coordinated way to provide streamlined access to critical health and social services such as employment and housing. More importantly, they had no way to consistently monitor what happens to their clients.
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Still, there’s no quick-fix solution to start closing the gap between health and social care. It requires a long-term vision for transformative service delivery. Not only do we need to implement a core infrastructure that connects providers in a collaborative ecosystem, but we also need better access to standard data to track gaps in service and trends in outcomes, as well as tools that help care navigators enroll clients in services. Just as importantly, we need to shift funding and investments back into communities.
What should employers and civilians keep in mind when it comes to supporting veterans?
Community and employer support is critical because veterans deserve a system that doesn’t wait to help until they walk through a health facility’s door. They can help by volunteering with a local organization, like our partners at AmericaServes and the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, or by simply sitting down with a veteran and having a conversation about how their needs are being met to help identify gaps in the community or office. We believe health happens in the community.
