2. VA’s Mission
To fulfill President Lincoln's promise “To care for
him who shall have borne the battle, and for his
widow, and his orphan” by serving and honoring
the men and women who are America’s veterans.
VHA’s Mission
VHA fulfills VA’s honorable mission of serving
America’s Veterans by providing them with the
world-class health care and social support
services they have earned.
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3. VHA’s Challenges
VHA faces myriad challenges in engaging and
enrolling Veterans:
• Breaking barriers to access caused by lack
of awareness, misinformation and
misperceptions about the quality of care
VHA provides
• Addressing complex issues including health
reform, homelessness and mental health
• Communicating to a growing and
increasingly diverse population of Veterans
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4. Communications as a
Business Solution
Employing a proactive and comprehensive
communications strategy will:
• Shift Veterans’ attitudes and behavior
• Show that VHA has the capability
to deliver on the brand promise
• Position VHA as the preferred health
care provider serving the unique
and comprehensive health needs
of Veterans
Successful communications will promote
the VHA brand by:
• Differentiating VHA from the other
organizations that serve specific
Veteran needs
• Delivering on VHA’s Patient Centered
Care approach, which places the
Veteran at the center of all of
its services
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6. VHA Communications is Moving
Forward
VHA Communications is transforming
to better serve Veterans.
We are becoming more strategic,
targeted and streamlined.
This portfolio illustrates how VHA’s
work to create a unified brand is
impacting the campaigns and
products across VA.
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7. VA Health Care is patient-centered
and evidence-based.
Professional communications is
audience-centered and evidence-based.
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8. VHA Communications conducted The Benchmark Study
preliminary research to develop an
evidence-based communications
strategy.
A well-thought strategy is the sum
of a lot of moving parts:
• Communications
• Branding
• Public and media affairs
• Market research
• Internal/external
stakeholder outreach and
engagement
In order to improve VHA ratings
against industry best practices, we
are implementing outreach
strategies to effectively manage the
brand, and more consistently
communicate the value proposition
to stakeholders.
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11. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Address VHA’s key challenge
of awareness: Awareness of the
VHA brand and the services it
provides, and awareness for
Veterans to regain control of their
health care through, team care and
patient-centered care.
PRODUCT: Over 100 products
including a Style Guide, templates,
flyers, posters, brochures, slick
sheets, FAQs that support a unified
brand.
IMPACT: VHA created a suite of
communications products that
centered on a unified brand and
style guide, and then customized
messages for individual campaigns,
such as Patient Centered Care, and
Volunteer Services. VHA is the
springboard from which many of
the campaigns and products
displayed throughout this portfolio 2011 Spotlight Awards Global Communications Competition
were developed. Style Guide: Platinum Award, Template Series: Gold Award, Intranet Site: Gold Award
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12. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Develop content
management within the VA firewall
that tracks communication activities
in one place.
PRODUCT: VHA SharePoint website.
IMPACT: Improve internal
communications and allow for VHA
communications staff to efficiently
record their efforts and share
information on materials as they are
being developed internally for
approval and information purposes
among select VHA staff at the
national, network, and field levels.
.
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13. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Evaluate VHA website(s)
usability health and provide
repeatable process(s) to VHA
site(s) and their content are
updated in a way that best
resonates and communicates with
its users.
PRODUCT: Website Rapid
Assessment and Usability Analysis
and Report.
IMPACT: Improve the user
experience and ensure Veterans get
quick and easy access to
information. Improving the user
experience will drive Veterans to
the VHA website and encourage
them to use this as a key health
care resource.
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14. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Redesign VHA landing pages
to improve user experience with
the website.
PRODUCT: Wireframes for VHA
website.
IMPACT: Due to improved user
experience, more Veterans are
visiting VHA’s website an using it as
a resource to access information
and services for their health care.
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15. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Help transform VA
to a patient-centered care approach
that puts the Veteran at the core of
VA care and differentiates VA from
other health care providers.
PRODUCT: A presentation to educate
the VA medical staff on VHA’s
transition to a patient-centered
care approach.
IMPACT: An improved patient
experience at VA medical facilities,
that helps address the
misperception around VA’s lack of
quality care.
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16. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Help transform VA to a
patient-centered care approach.
PRODUCT: A set of worksheets to
help inspire collaboration and
conversation between the medical
facilities and the Office of Patient-
Centered Care and Cultural
Transformation. These worksheets
solicit feedback from medical
leaders to identify challenges that
need to be overcome as well as
share successes.
IMPACT: These worksheets will help
improve the overall Veteran
experience at VA medical facilities
by helping the organization share
knowledge and work together to
solve challenges.
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17. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Engage volunteers to work
with Veterans.
PRODUCT: A series of brochures and
guidebooks that list ways in which
volunteers can help Veterans. Topics
range from volunteering to relieve a
caregiver or working with Veterans
in adaptive sports programs.
IMPACT: The brochures use a
consistent visual approach and
dynamic photography to engage
volunteers in the experience of
helping Veterans. Also, this series
is helping to promote the new
VHA brand.
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18. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Engage volunteers to work
with Veterans.
PRODUCT: A series of brochures and
guidebooks that list ways in which
volunteers can help Veterans. Topics
range from volunteering to relieve a
caregiver or working with Veterans
in adaptive sports programs.
IMPACT: The brochures use a
consistent visual approach and
dynamic photography to engage
volunteers in the experience of
helping Veterans. Also, this series
is helping to promote the new
VHA brand.
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19. VHA Office of Communications
GOAL: Create customized web
visuals that follow the VHA Graphic
Style Guide directing Veterans and
caregivers to an array of health
information and medical services .
PRODUCT: Web banners for use on
different VA Medical Center
websites.
IMPACT: The materials create a
visual hook to audiences to quickly
to access certain topic areas. The
materials are also part of a unified
VHA brand.
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20. Pre-Decisional
Project HERO
(Healthcare Effectiveness through Resource Optimization)
GOAL: Provide stakeholders with a
high-level overview of Project Hero’s
annual performance.
PRODUCT: Visually impactful and
concise executive summary for
stakeholders that is easily digestible
and provides need-to-know
information. The report was
comprised of 5 sections: Program
Background, Performance Highlights,
Initiatives, Program Highlights,
and Closing.
IMPACT: This artifact provided key
stakeholders with a high-level capture
of Project Hero’s Annual Report.
It allowed key stakeholders to
understand how the program is
performing and contributing to
Veterans getting the care they need
when it is not readily available at
their local VA Medical Centers.
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21. VHA Office of Research
and Development
GOAL: Promote VA Research Week
National Forum event to Veterans,
their families and other key
stakeholders.
PRODUCT: Suite of branded
communications materials for VA
Research National Forum event,
which was critical to providing
exposure to the event .
Materials included:
• PowerPoint Template
• Flyer
• General Document Template
• Letterhead
• Tent Cards
• Poster
• Electronic Brochure
• Wallet Card
• Web Banner
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22. VHA Office of Research
and Development
IMPACT: Materials are contributing
to the promotion and exposure of
the event. VA is anticipating the
participation of over 300 attendees
at various events as part of VA’s
Research week.
VA will issue survey response cards
at the end of the event, which
will help measure the increased
understanding and impact of these
communications materials.
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23. VHA Human Factors
GOAL: Promote VHA’s Human
Factors office and inform VA/VHA
staff and external stakeholders of
the services it provides, and why
they should use and be interested in
Human Factors.
PRODUCT: “The Human Factors
Quarterly Newsletter”, a visually
compelling and easy-to-navigate
newsletter in an online platform,
which provides an overview of what
Human Factors means, the services
the office provides, how HF is used
outside of VA, highlights interesting
and relevant stories, and promotes
upcoming events.
IMPACT: Within days of the Human
Factors Quarterly Newsletter launch,
the office received dozens of
inquiries from VA/VHA personnel
related to its services.
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25. VA I CARE
GOAL: Highlight the core I CARE
values that apply across the entire
VA enterprise, and is the basis of our
employee culture. They essentially
define "who we are" as VA employees
and as an institution, highlighting
what separates VA from all other
organizations.
PRODUCT: Creative concepts for a
6-page presentation book highlighting
“Ways I Care, Values I Live By” –
Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy,
Respect, Excellence. The concepts
portray impactful images of
Veterans, their families, VA doctors,
and emulate the values VA
employees embody.
IMPACT: These creative concepts
Pre-Decisional
connect VHA employees to the
brand they represent and the cause
they serve day in and day out. The
connection creates a sense of unity
and allegiance to the VA family to
which they belong.
VHA COMMS INFLUENCE:
Use of star treatment, close-cropped
photography, and sense of dialogue. 24
26. VA Office of Information
Security (OIS)
GOAL: The mission of the Office
of Information Security (OIS) is to
serve 25 million Veterans and 45
million beneficiaries by ensuring
the confidentiality, integrity,
and availability of VA sensitive
information and information systems.
The role of OIS communications is
to educate the VA workforce about
the importance of and best practices
surrounding information security,
to ensure the protection of sensitive
Veteran information.
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27. VA Office of Information
Security (OIS)
PRODUCT: Suite of communications
products supporting information
security campaigns targeted at VA
employees. Rebranded the office to
comply with forthcoming VA branding
guidelines. Materials included a
Graphic Style Guide, brochures,
newsletters, tip-sheets, and posters,
among others.
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28. VA Office of Information
Security (OIS)
IMPACT: Improving individual
accountability and compliance with
information security policies, OIS is
building a more secure environment
for Veteran information.
Through multiple targeted campaigns,
and over 100 individual marketing
pieces, OIS is permeating the
workforce with the message that
information security is a primary
concern, and that each employee
must do their part to ensure the
security of Veteran information.
VHA COMMS INFLUENCE: Use of VHA
star treatment, putting Veterans at
the center.
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30. VBA Outreach
GOAL: Raise Veteran awareness
about benefits to which they are
entitled.
PRODUCT: Suite of overview
benefit brochures that provide a
summary of available benefits.
Topics include education, life
insurance, home loans, disability
compensation, VR&E, dependents
and survivors, and pension.
IMPACT: For the first time,
Veterans can look through a single
overview brochure to learn about
available benefits, and make the
right choice about which one is
right for them.
VHA COMMS INFLUENCE: Use of
star-branding and Veteran photos
from VHA photo-shoot, and other
images from VHA materials.
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31. VBA Outreach
GOAL: Engage National
Guardsmen and Reservists to
apply for VA benefits.
PRODUCT: Suite of
communications products to
raise awareness that National
Guardsmen and Reservists,
based on the type of service
they provide, may be eligible
for VA benefits.
IMPACT: Because National
Guardsmen and Reservists don’t
always think of themselves as
Veterans, these products have
helped bridge that gap, making
them more aware of what is
available to them.
VHA COMMS INFLUENCE: Use of
VHA star-branding, and Veteran
photos from VHA photo-shoot.
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32. VBA Claims Transformation
GOAL: Increase VBA employee
understanding of Transformation
Plan and pilot site implementation,
promote employee support of
Transformation, and equip them
to communicate the plan to VSOs.
PRODUCT: Clear and easy-to-
understand communications
materials including fact sheets, one-
page slick sheets, and FAQs as part of
a Transformation rollout toolkit.
These materials put employees at the
core of Transformation, providing
standardized information for unified
implementation and answering
questions that impact their job.
IMPACT: These materials provide
employees with a sense of ownership
over the Transformation process, as
opposed to simply being recipients of
it. Each material reinforces VBA’s
commitment to its employees, which
leads them to be strong advocates of
Transformation.
VHA COMMS INFLUNCE:
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Use of star branding.
33. Contact
For more information, please contact:
John Hale
Chief Communications Officer
Veterans Health Administration
Phone: (202) 461-7068
Email: John.Hale@VA.gov
Web: www.VHA.gov
VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION 32
