King Edward VII’s Centre for Veterans’ Health receive grant from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust

King Edwards VII’s Hospital is delighted to have been awarded £89,000 funding from the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, Afghanistan Veterans Fund, from the Office of Veteran Affairs to go towards the Centre for Veterans’ Health. This funding is for the award-winning Pain Management Programme (PMP), which is specifically designed and delivered for veterans of the British Armed Forces.

The Centre for Veterans’ Health PMP treatment model combines cognitive behavioural treatment (CBT), which has the strongest evidence base, with more recent developments drawn from mindfulness-based CBT for pain and compassion-focused therapy. It incorporates methods to manage physical activity and mood, reviewing pain related medications and helping veterans to understand their pain better in order to feel more confident in the day to day management of their condition.

A reduction in the intensity of the pain over time is not uncommon, although the primary goal of the PMP is to help individuals engage in more meaningful activities and feel less controlled by their pain which often helps with employability and their personal and professional relationships. PMP not only offer a wide range of practical strategies but also an environment for people to share their own experiences and gain peer support from other group members.

Alex Le Vey, Director of Philanthropy and Veterans’ Health at the Hospital stated that “King Edward VII’s Hospital is very grateful to the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust and the Office for Veterans Affairs, for enabling us to run two additional Pain Management Programmes in 2022 and 2023. Pain is a huge issue for the veteran community. We are delighted to be able to offer more veterans places on our life-changing programme thanks to this generous grant”