Healing in Your Hands Wellness Tools for VA Staff and Veterans

Overview

Development stage

In development or acquisitionSource: a) Pre-deployment – The use case is in a development or acquisition status.

High-impact designation

Not high-impactSource: c) Not high-impact

Impact justification

Not reported

Start date

Not reported

Withheld from public reporting

Not reported

Mission

Topic area

Health and Medical

Operational functions

No function tag matched Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

This AI wellness tool is designed to close a real gap in the VA: the lack of quick, easy-to-access emotional support for both staff and Veterans in the moments they need it most. Right now, if a nurse finishes a high-stress call or a Veteran walks into the clinic feeling anxious, there’s no immediate, built-in way to help them calm down, refocus, or reset before moving forward. Most wellness efforts happen after the fact—or are generic resources that people have to go looking for. This project changes that by putting wellness directly in their hands—through a simple QR code they can scan anywhere in the building. From there, they can instantly access calming tools like breathing exercises, affirmations, or therapeutic coloring pages—customized for staff or Veterans—without logging in, downloading an app, or navigating a complex system. It solves the problem of accessibility, timing, and relevance—giving people the right kind of support exactly when and where they need it.

Expected benefits

To develop a set of interactive, AI-supported wellness tools that can be deployed across VA facilities and remotely, enhancing daily emotional health, reducing burnout, and supporting mental wellness for both staff and veteran populations.

System outputs

1. Custom Wellness Exercises Breathing techniques tailored to the moment (e.g., quick 1-minute reset, 3-minute calming session, guided deep breathing for stress release) 2. Personalized Affirmations & Encouragement Short, uplifting messages generated based on user type (staff or Veteran) and emotional need (e.g., motivation, calm, grounding) 3. Therapeutic Coloring Page Designs Military-themed or wellness-themed images staff and Veterans can print or color digitally, tailored to user preferences 4. Mindset Reset Prompts Quick mental focus or grounding exercises for moments of overwhelm, before a shift, or before an appointment 5. Quick-Access QR Links AI creates a shareable, scannable QR link to instantly access the right wellness resource without login or app downloads

Technology

AI classification

Generative AISource: Generative AI: AI that generates new or synthetic content (e.g., images, videos, audio, text, code).

System name(s)

Not reported

Custom-developed code

Not reported

Public source code

Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built

Not reported

Vendor (as reported)

Not reported

Vendors (standardized)

None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII

Not reported

Privacy Impact Assessment

Not reported

Authorization to Operate

Not reported

Demographic features

Not reported

Training and evaluation data

Not reported

Federal Data Catalog

Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported