[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 134 (Thursday, July 12, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32337-32338]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-14936]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Creating Options for Veterans Expedited Recovery (COVER) 
Commission; Notice of Meeting

    In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the Creating 
Options for Veterans Expedited Recover (COVER) Commission gives notice 
that the first meeting will be held on July 24 and July 25, 2018 at the 
Capital Hilton, 1001 16th Street NW, Washington, DC. The meeting will 
convene at 8:00 a.m. and adjourn at 5:00 p.m. EST on July 24 and July 
25. The meeting will be partially closed to the public on July 24, 2018 
and July 25, 2018. In accordance with 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(2) and (6), 
which exempt a meeting from the requirement to be open to the public, 
the meeting will be closed on July 24 from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. 
because it is likely to ``relate solely to the internal personnel rules 
and practices of an agency'' or ``disclose . . . information of a 
personal nature where disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted 
invasion of personal privacy.'' On July 25, the meeting will be closed 
from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. under section 552b(c)(9)(B) because it 
would reveal information the disclosure of which would, ``in the case 
of an agency, be likely to significantly frustrate implementation of a 
proposed agency action.'' This closed session will include discussion 
of ground rules, decision making protocol, and strategy to establish 
ground rules. Any precipitous release of those discussions through an 
open session will frustrate program implementation, to the detriment of 
our Veterans who we consider our greatest customer/benefactor of the 
commission.
    Open sessions will be held on both days in Capital Hilton's South 
American AB room. The open session on Day 1 will focus current VHA 
Whole Health Practices, VA's Mental Health Services and Resources. The 
open session Day 2 will include review and discussion of the objectives 
of the Commission as described in the Comprehensive Addiction and 
Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. A listening line will be available to the 
public who prefer to call in rather than attend the open sessions at 
the Capital Hilton. This listening line number will be activated 10 
minutes before each of the two open sessions. The listening line number 
is 800-767-1750; access code 48664#.
    The purpose of the COVER Commission is to examine the evidence-
based therapy treatment model used by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) for treating mental health conditions of Veterans and the 
potential benefits of incorporating complementary and integrative 
health approaches as standard practice throughout the Department. The 
Commission will: (1) Examine the efficacy of the evidence-based therapy 
model used by VA to treat mental health illnesses and identify areas of 
improvement; (2) conduct a patient-centered survey within each VISN to 
examine: The experiences of veterans with VA facilities regarding 
mental health care, the experiences of veterans with non-VA facilities 
regarding mental health care, the preferences of veterans regarding 
available treatment for mental health issues and which methods the 
veterans believe to be most effective, the experience, if any, of 
veterans with respect to complementary and integrative health 
approaches, the prevalence of prescribing medication to veterans 
seeking treatment for mental health disorders through VA, and the 
outreach efforts of VA regarding the availability of benefits and 
treatments for veterans for addressing mental health issues; (3) 
examine available research on complementary and integrative health 
approaches for mental health disorders in areas of therapy including: 
Music therapy, equine therapy, training and caring for service dogs, 
yoga therapy, acupuncture therapy, meditation therapy, outdoor sports 
therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, accelerated resolution therapy, art 
therapy, magnetic resonance therapy,

[[Page 32338]]

and others; (4) study the sufficiency of VA resources to deliver 
quality mental health care; and (5) study the current treatments and 
resources available within VA and assess: The effectiveness of such 
treatments and resources in decreasing the number of suicides per day 
by veterans, the number of veterans who have been diagnosed with mental 
health issues, the percentage of veterans who have completed VA 
counseling sessions, and the efforts of VA to expand complementary and 
integrative health treatments viable to the recovery of veterans with 
mental health issues as determined by the Secretary to improve the 
effectiveness of treatments offered by VA.
    Any member of the public seeking additional information should 
email COVER [email protected]. The Designated Federal Officer for the 
Commission is Ms. Sheila B. Hickman. Ms. Hickman and the staff will be 
monitoring and responding to questions or comments sent to this email 
box. The Committee will also accept written comments which may be sent 
to the same email box. In the public's communications with the 
Committee, the writers must identify themselves and state the 
organizations, associations, or persons they represent.

    Dated: July 9, 2018.
Jelessa M. Burney,
Federal Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-14936 Filed 7-11-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE P