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Health

Health & Everyday Living

Feeling good day to day is the whole point. Here are simple, encouraging ways to stay healthy and active - and the VA resources that make it easier and cheaper.

The Aging Veteran Library3 min read
An active senior Black veteran tending his vegetable garden on a sunny morning

The short version

  • Small daily movement does more for aging bodies than the occasional big workout.
  • VA telehealth and mail-order prescriptions save trips and money.
  • Mental health is health - the VA covers it, and asking for help is strength.

01Keep moving - it is the closest thing to a miracle

You do not need a gym membership or a hard workout. A short daily walk does more for an aging body than an occasional big effort - it protects your heart, your balance, and your mood.

Gardening, stretching, dancing in the kitchen - anything that keeps you moving counts. The best exercise is simply the one you enjoy enough to do again tomorrow.

02Use your VA health resources

If you are enrolled, the VA offers more than most veterans use. Telehealth lets you see a provider from your own living room, and prescriptions arrive by mail so you skip the pharmacy line.

The VA's Whole Health approach also covers things like nutrition, physical therapy, and programs to help you quit smoking or manage pain without leaning on medication.

  • Video and phone visits - care without the drive.
  • Mail-order prescriptions - refills delivered to your door.
  • Hearing, vision, and dental - ask what your enrollment covers.
  • Nutrition and physical therapy - part of Whole Health.

For information purposes only - this is not legal, financial, or medical advice. The Aging Veteran is a private service and is not part of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Benefits are subject to VA eligibility rules. Always confirm your specifics on va.gov or with a qualified professional.

03Mental health is health

Feeling low, anxious, or alone is common as we age, and it is nothing to be ashamed of. Reaching out for help is a sign of strength, not weakness, and the VA covers mental health care.

If you are ever in crisis, you can reach the Veterans Crisis Line any time by dialing 988 and then pressing 1. Someone is always there.

04Stay ahead with preventive care

The visits that feel unnecessary are often the ones that matter most. Keeping up with checkups, screenings, and vaccines is the surest way to catch small problems before they become big ones.

Keep reading

The Aging Veteran Library

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It is not too late

There is no age limit. You are not out of the game.

Far too many veterans - older veterans most of all - decide on their own that they are too old, that they waited too long, or that because nobody ever gave them the information they must be out of the game. Nothing could be further from the truth. When you file a disability claim, the VA does not look at your age. There is no age limit and no deadline on filing a first claim, and veterans in their fifties, sixties, seventies and beyond are approved every single day.

That is the entire point of this website: to make you aware of the benefits you are entitled to right now, as an aging veteran, so you can protect your health, protect your family, and protect your benefits. So do not give up, do not talk yourself out of it, and do not wait until you are no longer able to seek care. The best day to start was years ago. The next best day is today.

A veteran in his seventies sitting at his kitchen table with coffee and a legal pad, calmly thinking through his VA benefits

“I’m too old for this.”

There is no age limit on a VA claim. The VA does not look at your age - it looks at whether your condition is connected to your service.

“I waited too long, so I missed my chance.”

There is no deadline to file a first claim. You can file decades after you separated, and your effective date starts protecting you the day you file.

“I never got the information, so I’m out of the game.”

Nobody handed most veterans a list of what they earned. That is exactly why this site exists - the facts are here, in plain language, at no cost.

“I’ll deal with it when I really need care.”

Do not wait until you are too sick to fight for it. Filing while you can still gather records and attend exams is the single biggest advantage you have.

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A senior veteran couple reviewing their household finances together

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  • You register. This simply starts the conversation — you are not our client yet, and you owe us nothing.
  • You sign and return VA Form 21-22a. It appoints us as your accredited representative and gives us access to your VA file.
  • Once we have your signed 21-22a and access to your case, we verify everything is in order.

It involves the registration form and signing VA Form 21-22a — by law we can’t accept your claim, work on it, or contact the VA for you until that power of attorney is signed. You decide whether to move forward.

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