DCoE Outreach Team Briefs Fort Drum Providers on TBI, Psychological Health Resources

By Jayne Davis, DCoE Strategic Communications

Faces on the video screen spoke movingly about their experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — pervasive night terrors and sleeplessness; anger at everyone for everything. One service member admitted he just wanted people to go away so they wouldn’t be part of what he was experiencing. Another thought about taking his life because he felt he wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t a real warrior.
        - Real Warriors Campaign video profile: “Real Warriors and Psychological Health”

Soldiers in a master resiliency training class at Fort Hood, Texas, interact via video teleconference with soldiers at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. (Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Gail Braymen)

Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) subject matter experts participated in a video teleconference Oct. 27 with behavioral health and primary care providers at Fort Drum, N.Y. Dr. Lolita O’Donnell, DCoE Strategic Communications directorate, outreach deputy director, and George Lamb, DCoE Strategic Communications directorate, acting outreach and collaboration division chief, spoke with psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, nurses and other health care providers assigned to Guthrie Ambulatory Health Care Clinic, which oversees the installation TBI Clinic. Holley Slabaugh, inTransition program communication coordinator, assisted. Along with Real Warriors Campaign video profiles, the DCoE team shared resources, programs and tools DCoE developed in collaboration with federal partners to address psychological health concerns and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Fort Drum is home to the 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), one of the most deployed divisions in the U.S. military since 2001. “We reached out to Fort Drum to support their psychological health and TBI care for soldiers and provided them with DCoE resources that promote resilience, recovery and reintegration,” said O’Donnell. “Here, and at other military treatment facilities, we leverage video teleconferencing to ask health care providers if there are gaps in information they have or if they have deployment-related issues or concerns they want us to help address. In our role as integrator, we connect clinicians and other stakeholders to our network of psychological health and TBI resources, and subject matter experts.”

Providers heard about the DCoE mission and universal messages of support for those coping with psychological health concerns:

• You are not alone
• Treatment works
• Early intervention is key
• Reaching out is an act of courage and strength

“Across a spectrum of stakeholders, these messages remain core to our outreach to service members, veterans and families,” said Lamb.

The DCoE team presented a variety of products for provider use such as, Case Management Guidance for TBI and Concussion, Web-based Case Studies for mild TBI, Major Depressive Disorder Toolkit and Clinical Practice Guidelines, and pointed out where to access products on the DCoE website. They highlighted the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Pocket Guide (mTBI), a comprehensive diagnostic tool for clinical care providers that is also now a mobile application available for Android smart phone users, and the Co-occurring Conditions Toolkit, a primary care provider assessment and management tool for patients with co-occurring psychological health concerns and TBI, which will soon be available as a mobile application for Android and iPhone users.

DCoE provided materials to participants and highlighted four programs:

• DCoE Outreach Center – available 24/7 by phone (866-966-1020), email (resources@dcoeoutrech.org) or chat
• DCoE Monthly Webinar – subject matter experts discuss current and emerging topics related to psychological health and TBI
• Real Warriors Campaign – multi-media outreach campaign features profiles on service members who have reached out for help
• inTransition – coaching and support program to keep service members connected to mental health services between transitions

Audience members were also told about the annual Trauma Spectrum Conference scheduled for Dec. 8-9.

Fort Drum sits on more than one hundred thousand acres, hosts almost 20,000 soldiers assigned to the base, and supports tenant units, active and reserve units from all services. With that in mind, Lamb said, “This was a great opportunity to collaborate with Fort Drum health care providers to understand the unique needs of this post and provide clinical tools and programs that will complement and enhance their ability to address mental health issues and TBI.”