Continued Healing and Recovery from Brain Injuries

Filed under Behavioral Health, DoD, Resources by on March 2, 2010 at 9:48 pm {2 comments}

By COL Jim Rice, AW2 Director

DCoE is working to tear down the stigma that still deters some from seeking treatment for problems such as PTSD and TBI with their Real Warriors Campaign.

DCoE is working to tear down the stigma that still deters some from seeking treatment for problems such as PTSD and TBI with their Real Warriors Campaign.

There are some things that will require AW2′s continued support and steadfast resolve—such as the Army’s commitment to provide the finest healthcare to our AW2 Soldiers and Veterans with brain injuries. This year, as we recognize National Brain Injury Awareness Month, we again recognize that many of our men and women in uniform continue to make sacrifices that are as varied, as they are commendable. With those sacrifices, however, come some inescapable realities. Among them, are the ever present possibilities of traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Throughout the medical arena, great strides are being made toward improving the care and support of our Army’s wounded warriors. Military Treatment Facilities and Veterans Affairs Polytrauma Centers continue to lead the way in researching, diagnosing, and facilitating mechanisms that help identify and treat Soldiers with TBI. The Defense Centers of Excellence (DCoE) for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury is working to establish best practices and quality standards for the treatment of psychological health and TBI and promote the resilience, recovery, and reintegration of warriors and their Families. In addition, DCoE is working to tear down the stigma that still deters some from seeking treatment for problems such as PTSD and TBI with their Real Warriors Campaign. This around the clock commitment to provide specialized care and treatment to those who struggle with what may well require long-term medical care, is matched only by the fervor in which sound answers and treatment are pursued.

In a world of uncertainty, we can still hope for continued healing and recovery from brain injuries that have become synonymous with our current conflicts. Whether TBI conditions are diagnosed as mild, moderate, or severe, AW2 Soldiers suffering from traumatic events and injuries can find solace in knowing that the horizon is brighter because of the Army’s commitment to support wounded warriors and their Families for as long as it takes.

Give an Hour Provides Free Counseling

Filed under Behavioral Health, Community Support Network, Non-profit, Resources by on February 25, 2010 at 10:00 am {no comments}

By Barbara Van Dahlen, Ph.D., Founder & President of Give an Hour

Give an Hour is a national nonprofit organization delivering free mental health counseling services to active duty service members, members of our National Guard and Reserve forces, and Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who have separated or retired from any branch of military service.  In addition to these military personnel and their spouses and children, Give an Hour offers services to parents, siblings, and unmarried partners.  Through our network of nearly 5,000 providers nationwide, we aim to provide easy access to skilled professionals offering a wide range of services including:

  • individual, marital, and family therapy
  • substance abuse counseling
  • treatment for post-traumatic stress
  • counseling for individuals with traumatic brain injuries

Returning combat Veterans suffering from depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress are not routinely seeking the mental health treatment they need.  Many fear that seeking mental health services will jeopardize their career or standing.  Given the military culture’s emphasis on confidence, strength, and bravery, others are reluctant to expose their vulnerabilities to counselors who are often military personnel themselves.  By providing free and confidential services that are separate from the military establishment, we offer an essential option for men and women who might otherwise fail to seek or receive appropriate services.

AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Family members in need of services can visit www.giveanhour.org and use a zip-code finder to locate a provider in his or her area.  Give an Hour is a participant in the AW2 Community Support Network.

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sites, the United States Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations.

Grants Available from Our Military Kids

Filed under Community Support Network, Non-profit, Resources by on February 16, 2010 at 2:45 pm {2 comments}

By Mary Carolyn Voght, Guest Blogger from Our Military Kids

For some military children, the stress and anxiety caused by a parent’s deployment do not end once their father or mother has returned home.  Children of injured servicemembers face new challenges that come with learning to adapt to physical, mental, and emotional changes in a loved one.  Our Military Kids, a non-profit based in Washington, DC, is a member of the AW2 Community Support Network and provides grants to children of injured servicemembers for extracurricular activities.  The grants help these children cope with the strain of having a parent recovering from physical and/or mental wounds by getting them involved in a sports, fine arts, or academic tutoring program.

Since January 2009, Our Military Kids has awarded over 200 grants to Families of the severely injured in 32 states across the country, including one Family from Indiana with six children.

“You cannot believe the difference this makes for my Family,” the mother told Our Military Kids. Her children received grants for gymnastics, music lessons, martial arts, and tutoring. “There is no way we could have afforded all of these activities without the grants, particularly with their father still recovering in the hospital.”

Children of severely injured servicemembers are eligible for a grant covering up to $500 of an activity.  To apply, Families must submit the following documentation:

  1. Completed application form
  2. Servicemember’s most recent military orders (even if they are retired)
  3. Form of ID for the child (birth certificate or military ID)
  4. Brochure or flyer documenting the cost of the activity
  5. Letter from the servicemember’s case manager certifying that they are injured as a result of being deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom

Our Military Kids processes applications within a week to ten days.  Once a grant has been approved, the check is mailed directly to the organization providing the activity and an award packet is mailed to the Family.

In addition to receiving a letter, certificate and patch with their grant, children of injured service members also receive a special reMIND dog tag and ring provided by the Bob Woodruff Foundation.  The rings and dog tags help raise awareness about war injuries that cannot be seen, and their prevalence shows that many Americans want to support and honor all of our wounded warriors.

Our Military Kids is pleased to recognize injured military personnel and their Families for their service to our nation.  Helping these children to participate in an extracurricular activity of their choice is a small way of saying thank you to those who are sacrificing so much for our country.

The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense of the linked web sites, or the information, products or services contained therein. For other than authorized activities such as military exchanges and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sites, the United States Department of Defense does not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations.

Comprehensive Soldier Fitness: New Tool for Soldiers, Families, and Army Civilians

Filed under General, Resources, Training by on February 4, 2010 at 4:56 pm {one comment}

By LTC Jeanette Griffin, WTC Stratcom

The Army recently launched Comprehensive Soldier Fitness (CSF), a new tool to help Soldiers, Families, and Army civilians face the physical and psychological challenges of sustained operations. CSF’s mission is to develop and institute a holistic fitness program in order to enhance performance and build resilience. The program focuses on five areas of fitness:

  • Physical
  • Emotional
  • Social
  • Family
  • Spiritual

Participants complete the Global Assessment Tool (GAT) survey which rates their emotional, social, Family, and spiritual fitness. They are then directed to training modules that match their fitness levels on each of the different areas.

I took the GAT a few weeks ago and realized that an AKO log-in is required. The GAT took me about 15 minutes, and I was satisfied with the balance of my scores.

After completing the survey, I was intrigued, and I completed one of the Emotional modules called “Put It In Perspective”. This module also took about 15 minutes and helped me walk through an exercise where I avoided “catastrophic thinking”, or focusing on the worst-case scenario, and instead developed a plan for the more realistic possibilities. In the exercise, I was told that my senior leadership wanted to see me by the end of the day.

  1. First, I had to write out the “worst case” possibilities – that I might be fired, reprimanded, or given an impossibly difficult assignment.
  2. Then, I wrote out the “best case” possibilities, such as being promoted or given a raise or award.
  3. Finally, the module helped me look at the more realistic ideas – that my supervisor might be giving me feedback on a specific assignment or tasking me with a specific project, and I developed a plan for addressing the issue.

AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Families are an incredibly resilient group of people who have overcome so much. This tool won’t solve the wide range of problems wounded warriors face during recovery and transition, but it may provide some tools to address the challenges that continue to surface. I encourage AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Family members to give it a try.

CSF emphasizes that the GAT scores are confidential, and individual scores will not be reported to Commanders or Leadership. CSF is not a screening tool for any physical or psychological disease or dysfunction. It is instead a self-assessment tool to help individual Soldiers, Family members, and Army civilians to evaluate their balance of their fitness levels on each of these dimensions.

IMCOM Live Blogging from AFAP Worldwide Conference

Filed under Resources, Symposium by on January 14, 2010 at 12:33 pm {2 comments}
AW2 booth at the 2010 AFAP Worldwide Conference

AW2 booth at the 2010 AFAP Worldwide Conference

The U.S. Army Installation Management Command (IMCOM) is live blogging from the 2010 Army Family Action Plan (AFAP) Worldwide Conference this week in Arlington, VA. IMCOM is the U.S. Army organization that provides unified management and oversight of U.S. Army installations worldwide and oversees the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command as well as the Army Environmental Command.

The AW2 Blog will feature thoughts and experiences from AW2 Soldiers and Family members who are attending the AFAP Worldwide Conference as delegates, but the live blog at IMCOM gives a great summary of each day and how the AFAP process works to address issues that are of concern to all Army Families:

Several of the blog entries feature commentary from IMCOM Commander LTG Rick Lynch as well as photos from the conference on IMCOM’s Flickr account.

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AW2 Soldiers, Veterans, and Families can submit a blog for AW2 by emailing WarriorCareCommunications [at] conus.army.mil.