DCoE Blog

• Fortify Caregivers to Prevent Compassion Fatigue

  Posted by Sidney R. Hinds III, DCoE Public Affairs on September 23, 2016

  

  Compassion fatigue is a natural occurrence that may affect health care providers and the quality of care they provide to patients, a professor of social work said in a psychological health webinar hosted last month by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

  Brian E. Bride, a professor of social work at Georgia State University and editor in chief of “Traumatology: An International Journal,” outlined the risks of compassion fatigue. Bride also explained strategies caregivers can apply to minimize its impact on their mental states and on the care they provide.

  Compassion fatigue occurs in caregivers who regularly treat patients who have experienced trauma. This secondhand trauma can produce symptoms identical to those of posttraumatic stress disorder, including intrusive thoughts, irritability, loss of emotional control and loss of concentration. These symptoms may affect providers’ ability to respond to patients.

  Recent studies of health care providers indicate that close to half of providers experience compassion fatigue and a significant portion say it negatively affects their work.

  Categories: DCoE Webinar Rewind, Resilience, DCoE Products, DCoE, Treatment, Psychological Health   |   Comments (0)

• Review Clinical Study Methods before You Accept Results, Expert Says

  Posted by Sidney R. Hinds III, DCoE Public Affairs on August 18, 2016

  

  As new medical treatment approaches and platforms come along, providers should check whether the evidence offered to support the new approaches actually proves what it claims. This is especially important when it comes to non-inferiority studies, which try to show that a new approach is no worse than the old one, said Derek Smolenski, an epidemiologist and quantitative methodologist for the National Center for Telehealth & Technology.

  A non-inferiority study is conducted to prove, or disprove, that a new form of treatment is no worse than the current standard of treatment, or if it is, that it is not unacceptably worse. Because this type of study is often used to compare new approaches like video conferencing and electronic self-help resources to current methods, a provider’s ability to critically analyze the findings of such studies is paramount, Smolenski said in a webinar hosted last month by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

  Categories: DCoE Webinar Rewind, Research, Psychological Health   |   Comments (0)

• TBI Patients Can Benefit from Performance Triad Plan

  Posted by Mikelle D. Smith, DCoE Public Affairs on August 4, 2016

  

  Most clinicians know that patients achieve optimum physical health by eating healthy nutrient-based foods, staying active and consistently getting at least eight hours of quality sleep every night. But for patients with a traumatic brain injury (TBI), these tasks may be challenging.

  “Regardless of the mechanism of injury, TBI can result in significant neurological impairment, acute clinical symptoms and functional disturbances,” said Gary McKinney, chief, office of clinical practice and clinical recommendations at Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC).

  McKinney and other experts from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, spoke about how primary care providers can apply the key focus areas of the Army Performance Triad (sleep, activity and nutrition) to boost patient recovery from TBI during a Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) webinar July 14.

  Categories: DCoE Webinar Rewind, Traumatic Brain Injury, DCoE Products, DCoE, Providers, Treatment   |   Comments (0)

• ‘Combat Obesity, Not Obese People’

  Posted by Sidney R. Hinds III, DCoE Public Affairs on July 14, 2016

  

  People’s perceptions about those who are overweight or obese make it hard to address weight-based health issues in the military, according to Natasha Schvey, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Schvey shared information on obesity in the military setting during a recent webinar hosted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

  What is Weight Stigma?

  Rates of obesity in the United States have climbed steadily among civilian and military populations in the past two decades. The stigma surrounding excess weight has increased with it, making the problem worse.

  Categories: DCoE Webinar Rewind, DCoE Products, DCoE, Psychological Health   |   Comments (2)

• Cognitive Rehabilitation for Mild TBI

  Posted by Mikelle D. Smith, DCoE Public Affairs on July 7, 2016

  

  According to the Defense Medical Surveillance System, mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as concussion, accounts for more than 82 percent of TBI cases throughout the Defense Department worldwide.

  “Service members and veterans who have sustained a concussion may experience cognitive symptoms that keep them from normal activity,” said Linda M. Picon, the Department of Veterans Affairs liaison for TBI at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE).

  “These symptoms may be related to a history of mild TBI and to deployment-related complaints such as chronic pain, headaches, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, substance use disorders and life stressors following return from deployment,” said Picon during a recent webinar hosted by DCoE.

  Categories: DCoE Webinar Rewind, Traumatic Brain Injury, webinar, DCoE Products, DCoE, Treatment   |   Comments (2)

• Guiding Service Members to Seek Help

  Posted by Sidney R. Hinds III, DCoE Public Affairs on June 16, 2016

  

  A service member’s own negative ideas about psychological health conditions and fear of what others might think are significant barriers to seeking treatment, Clinical Health Psychologist Bradford Applegate told attendees during a recent webinar hosted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE). These perceptions expand to all branches of the military. Applegate outlined practices to help providers facilitate greater rates of help-seeking behavior and successfully treat psychological health issues.

  According to a 2015 Army “Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Service Members,” less than 50 percent of active-duty and retired personnel diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are in treatment. Overall, only 21 percent of service members with a psychological disorder are receiving treatment. The stigma that surrounds PTSD and other psychological disorders contributes to these low numbers, said Applegate, who serves as a Real Warriors Campaign clinical psychological health subject matter expert for the Deployment Health Clinical Center.

  Categories: Real Warriors Campaign/Stigma, DCoE Webinar Rewind, DCoE Products, DCoE, Psychological Health   |   Comments (0)