Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Army Conducts Largest Mental Health Study
12th Public Affairs Detachment
Story by Sgt. Joshua Holt
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – The Army Study To Assess Risk and Resilience in Service members research team is currently conducting a study to better understand the risks and factors associated with mental health, stress and suicide.
The Army STARRS research study is a partnership between The National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. Army to identify the factors that may pose risks to soldiers’ emotional well-being and overall mental health.
“It’s the largest study of mental health risk and resilience that the military has ever conducted,” said Dr. Kevin Quinn, medical psychologist, NIMH program officer, Army STARRS. “We want to understand what might put a soldier at risk or what might make a soldier resilient to things that can increase or decrease the potential for suicide.”
“What we need to do, and what the study is designed to do is to contact a lot of soldiers,” said Quinn. “We’re on track with all the studies to have interviewed or surveyed 100,000 soldiers.”
The team assembled by NIMH includes participants from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, University of California, San Diego, University of Michigan, Harvard Medical School, NIMH and Army staff members.
The research will help the Army understand risks and factors of suicide, said Quinn. The rate of suicide has risen over the past five to seven years, but it is still an exceedingly rare event.
The study is designed to provide basic data to help aid other organizations studying prevention and risks associated with suicide, Quinn said.
Researchers look at the participant’s entire life, not just their military career.
“The basic component that’s involved in the majority of all the studies is the survey,” said Quinn. “We might look at the kinds of experiences that a soldier may have in the past before they ever entered the Army.”
The study will examine several different factors of the soldier’s life including: stress, deployments, exposures to trauma, family and personal history and demographics.
The survey can be taken in two different formats: a paper-and-pencil version and a computerized version. The method of testing would be determined by the research staff based on the location of the personnel being surveyed and the materials and equipment available.
Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/92706/army-conducts-largest-mental-health-study#ixzz22tVUsVQx
Story by Sgt. Joshua Holt
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – The Army Study To Assess Risk and Resilience in Service members research team is currently conducting a study to better understand the risks and factors associated with mental health, stress and suicide.
The Army STARRS research study is a partnership between The National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. Army to identify the factors that may pose risks to soldiers’ emotional well-being and overall mental health.
“It’s the largest study of mental health risk and resilience that the military has ever conducted,” said Dr. Kevin Quinn, medical psychologist, NIMH program officer, Army STARRS. “We want to understand what might put a soldier at risk or what might make a soldier resilient to things that can increase or decrease the potential for suicide.”
“What we need to do, and what the study is designed to do is to contact a lot of soldiers,” said Quinn. “We’re on track with all the studies to have interviewed or surveyed 100,000 soldiers.”
The team assembled by NIMH includes participants from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, University of California, San Diego, University of Michigan, Harvard Medical School, NIMH and Army staff members.
The research will help the Army understand risks and factors of suicide, said Quinn. The rate of suicide has risen over the past five to seven years, but it is still an exceedingly rare event.
The study is designed to provide basic data to help aid other organizations studying prevention and risks associated with suicide, Quinn said.
Researchers look at the participant’s entire life, not just their military career.
“The basic component that’s involved in the majority of all the studies is the survey,” said Quinn. “We might look at the kinds of experiences that a soldier may have in the past before they ever entered the Army.”
The study will examine several different factors of the soldier’s life including: stress, deployments, exposures to trauma, family and personal history and demographics.
The survey can be taken in two different formats: a paper-and-pencil version and a computerized version. The method of testing would be determined by the research staff based on the location of the personnel being surveyed and the materials and equipment available.
Read more: http://www.dvidshub.net/news/92706/army-conducts-largest-mental-health-study#ixzz22tVUsVQx
What are Some of DoD's Specialized Care Programs for Chronic Illnesses and PTSD?
Specialized Care Program (SCP) Track I
What Is It?
The SCP Track I is an intensive treatment program designed to address persistent disabling symptoms attributed by service members to deployment or other military exposure. It features three-weeks of multidisciplinary treatment of patients in small groups of three to eight individuals.
The program is based upon internationally recognized centers for management of chronic illness. It provides state-of-the-art care for those suffering from multiple symptoms such as:
| Fatigue Headache Digestive Problems Weight Gain | Joint Pain Skin Rash Memory Problems Weight Loss |
The Program's Goals
- Improve conditioning and decrease symptoms via a gradual, paced physical reactivation program.
- Provide opportunities to improve work performance and other activities of daily living.
- Promote overall well-being, symptom reduction, improved coping and decreased healthcare utilization through the practice of positive health behaviors and skills.
- Actively involve each participant in creating an individualized symptom management plan.
What Type of Care Is Provided?
The Specialized Care Program is designed to meet each participant's needs at a variety of levels. In addition to treatment of physical symptoms, there are interventions to assist in dealing with the stressors which accompany chronic pain and chronic illness such as loss of former abilities, strain on relationships, and transition from the military.
This program provides carefully coordinated delivery of care that takes into account many medical perspectives.
SCP Track I patients work closely with an internist and a health psychologist. Other members of the health care team include a, physical therapist, nurse, clinical social worker, and a nutritionist. A range of other medical specialists are also available depending on a patient's medical needs.
The Program includes:
- A thorough review of medical history and past diagnostic testing with an internist
- Education regarding symptoms and personal health care management
- Support and education for family members
- Group and one-on-one meetings to discuss the impacts of physical symptoms, life stressors, and military experiences
- Information regarding benefits for veteran
Who Can Participate?
The SCP Track I is available to members of all armed services and components, as well as to family members affected by persistent symptoms. The Specialized Care Program emphasizes treatment over evaluation.
Prior to admission to the Specialized Care Program, each person's medical record is extensively reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals. The purpose of this review is to determine whether or not the Specialized Care Program would be an appropriate treatment
What Is the Specialized Care Program SCP Track II?
- Intensive, three-week, multi-disciplinary treatment program for patients with deployment-related stress, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or difficulties adjusting to re-deployment
- Comprehensive program designed to accommodate a need for treatment of operational stress and PTSD associated with recent combat deployments
- Focus on supportive treatment for service members from OEF/OIF with difficulties readjusting upon return who attribute concerns to operational stress or other operational issues and:
- Assistance through other treatment venues has been unsuccessful or
- Treatment resources at local and specialty care settings under existing standards of care have been exhausted or
- Treatment resources at local and specialty care settings are not available to meet the specific treatment needs of the patient and
- Patient continues to experiences difficulties in functional status and quality of life.
- Designed to prevent chronic PTSD which creates higher usage of medical/behavioral health resources
- Designed to reduce co-morbid health concerns such as depression, substance abuse, and domestic violence which contribute to high utilization of healthcare services
What Type of Care Is Provided by the SCP Track II?
- Each SCP-Track II treatment plan is designed to meet individual patient needs
- An internist evaluates/provides needed medical treatment for physical symptoms
- Program teaches patients strategies to deal with the physiological, behavioral, emotional, and cognitive effects of stress/trauma and their resultant consequences on social, occupational, emotional, and interpersonal functioning and quality of life
- Treatment program is group oriented, with three to eight individuals going through 3 week program as a group in order to facilitate trust and mutual support
What Are the Key Elements of Care for SCP Track II?
- Behavioral health and self-care strategies and treatment modalities including:
- Cognitive-behavioral therapy
- Group exposure therapy
- Physical reactivation
- Stress management (relaxation training, massage therapy, yoga and acupuncture)
- Educationally-based self-care focus with relapse prevention follow up
- Multiple phone call follow up contacts for 10 months with clinician to secure improvements
- Functional status emphasis and return to duty
- Multi-disciplinary staff (physician, psychologist, social worker, nurse, physical therapist)
- Structured, day-hospital milieu, 0730 - 1600 for three weeks, Mon.- Fri.
- Ease of access to other referral sources within the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) system
How Are People Referred to the Program?
- Military health system clinicians can refer patients meeting admission criteria to the program
- Patients must be ambulatory and capable of some exercise
- Patients musts be stable enough for independent functioning
- Referral must include evaluation by a mental health professional to rule out significant co-morbid mental illness, e.g., psychosis, suicidality, active substance abuse
- For healthcare facilities lacking evaluation assets, referrals for evaluation may be made to DHCC Ambulatory Care Program
- The individual's command must approve program attendance
- For additional referral information click here.
Information provided by Department Of Defense Deployment Health Clinical Center
Invisible Injuries of War: What Heals and Who's Listening?
By: Joseph Bobrow
Founder of the Coming Home Project
Founder of the Coming Home Project
We all know the story of the Three Little Pigs: The house made of bricks proved to be the strongest. The flagship DoD facilities built by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, Tex., and the National Intrepid Center of Excellence or NICoE, in Bethesda, Md., are state-of-the-art facilities. I have visited them, met their leaders, and seen the service members receiving excellent care. Having also contributed the invaluable Fisher Houses for service members' families, the Fund is now planning to build a total of nine treatment centers for brain injuries and psychological disorders at the largest military bases, at a cost of over $100 million, which they will raise as they did the previous $150 million.
By catalyzing public attention, the Fund is not averse to using public embarrassment as a motivator. Martin Edelman, an original Fund Board member, said that building things for the military could "force it's balky bureaucracy to act." Given the urgency of the issue, the thousands needing care and the tens of thousands soon to be needing care, I have no argument with the Fund's tactics.
But stop and think a minute. How long has it taken governmental health entities, Congress, the military, private and public funders and the general public to even begin to recognize and address the dangerous tendency to see only the visible injuries of war and to ignore the unseen wounds? We humans privilege what we can see. It is far more difficult to grasp the powerful impacts that escape the eye such as the PTS continuum and mild-moderate TBI. Might this factor now be at play in what kinds of resources are funded? I think the answer is yes.
In five years of caring for thousands of post 9/11 vets and families, our data has convinced me that most potent force in combating PTS and related unseen impacts of war trauma is hidden in plain sight: the experience of community and a trustworthy network of peer support. Why? Because this is what bonds service members to one another in the war zone and family members and caregivers on the homefront. We can and must leverage it to facilitate the most healing and empowering transition to civilian life.
The DoD medical command is strapped for staff and funds and this situation will become worse not better over the next few years. According to the recent Institute of Medicine report, the Department of Defense has "a woeful lack of information on the effectiveness and related costs of its post-traumatic stress disorder treatment programs, despite having spent millions of dollars on various initiatives to address psychological health and traumatic brain injury." Programs must address the whole person, including the family and wider support systems such as the community.
Although forcing the Pentagon's hand is not in itself objectionable, the question I raise is a pragmatic one: Is the 100 million dollars for the nine centers on military bases, and the hundreds of additional millions of dollars needed to properly staff, fund and maintain excellence at these centers for decades to come, the best use of these massive financial investments? I maintain that the answer is no.
The New York Times article refers to these nine centers as a "network." We need networks alright: real, empowering and durable support networks of veterans, spouses, parents, teens and other family members. Networks of professional care providers and family caregivers. Isolation kills and community heals. Troops come home to a community, not a series of isolated services. A safe place of welcome, belonging, and understanding, without judgment -- a true home -- is a palpable but ignored and therefore invisible factor. Brick and mortar structures in no way guarantees a real home.
READ MORE HERE
Monday, August 6, 2012
GUIDE: GI Bill, Employment and Education Program
Which program is best for me or my dependent?
- Try out the "Road Map For Success" application here that will help you decide which program meets your needs!
~or~
- Check out VA's "Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment VetSuccess Programs" here, if you are a veteran with a service-connected disability rating of 20% or more and are interested in other options for employment, education and independence!
What if I already know which program I want to use?
- If you are ready to start the application process to receive or transfer education benefits, you can get started here!
What if I need to verify my monthly attendance for benefit payment?
- You need to verify your attendance every month before payment is issued if you are attending an Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) or Non-College Degree (NCD) program and are receiving one of the following:
- Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty
- Montgomery GI Bill - Selected Reserve
- Reserve Educational Assistance Program - REAP
- Veterans Retraining Assistance Program - VRAP
How Much Money Will I Get Under The Post-9/11 GI Bill?
The Post-9/11 GI Bill reimburses your tuition & fees to your school and makes housing and other payments directly to you.
Your school will receive a percentage, as determined by your length of active duty service, of the following:
- For resident students at a public Institution of Higher Learning (IHL) all tuition & fee payments are reimbursed.
- For private and foreign IHLs tuition & fee reimbursement is capped at $17,500 per academic year (that amount will change to $18,077.50 August 1, 2012).
- For students whose tuition & fees exceed this maximum amount per academic year who are attending a private IHL in AZ, MI, NH, NY, PA, SC or TX and have been enrolled in the same program since January 4, 2011 schools will be reimbursed either the actual cost of the program or the maximum in-state tuition & fee reimbursement rate for the 2010-2011school year, whichever is greater.
- For reimbursement information for on-the job or apprenticeship programs click here
- For reimbursement information for vocational flight training programs click here
If you are attending a public IHL as a non-resident student or a private IHL that is more expensive than the annual cap you may be eligible for extra payment under the Yellow Ribbon program.
You may also be directly paid:
- A monthly housing allowance (MHA) equal to the basic allowance for housing (BAH) amount payable to an E-5 with dependents, in same zip code as your school. This allowance is paid proportionately based on your enrollment.
- If you are attending school at the 1/2 time or less rate or are on active duty or the spouse of an active duty member receiving "Transferred Benefits" you will not receive any MHA.
- If you are attending school overseas you will receive a MHA of $1,346.88 a month for 2011 which is the average amount for all CONUS locations (that amount will change to $1,368.00 for the 2012 academic year.
- If you are enrolled solely in distance learning you will receive a housing allowance equal to 1/2 the national average.
- A yearly books and supplies stipend of up to $1000 paid proportionately based on enrollment
- A one time payment of $500 may be payable to certain individuals relocating from highly rural areas.
How Much Money Will I Receive if I am using the Montgomery GI BILL?
Educational Assistance Allowance for trainees under the Montgomery GI Bill - Active Duty (Ch. 30 of title 38 U.S.C.). The following basic monthly rates are effective October 1, 2011.
For trainees on active duty, payment is limited to reimbursement of tuition and fees for the training taken. If you participated in the “$600.00 buy-up” rates can be found HERE
The following rates apply to those completing an enlistment of three years or more.
| Institutional Training | |
|---|---|
Training Time
|
Monthly rate
|
Full time
|
$1,473.00
|
¾ time
|
$1,104.75
|
½ time
|
$736.50
|
less than ½ time more than ¼ time
|
$736.50**
|
¼ time or less
|
$368.25 **
|
OJT Rates effective October 1, 2011
| Apprenticeship and On-Job Training | |
|---|---|
Training Period
|
Monthly rate
|
First six months of training
|
$1,104.75
|
Second six months of training
|
$810.15
|
Remaining pursuit of training
|
$515.55
|
Correspondence and Flight - Entitlement charged at the rate of one month for each $1,473.00 paid.
Cooperative - $1,473.00
** Tuition and Fees ONLY. Payment cannot exceed the listed amount.
The following rates apply to those completing an enlistment of less than three years.
| Institutional Training | |
|---|---|
Training Time
|
Monthly rate
|
Full time
|
$1,196.00
|
¾ time
|
$897.00
|
½ time
|
$598.00
|
less than ½ time more than ¼ time
|
$598.00 **
|
¼ time or less
|
$299.00 **
|
| Apprenticeship and On-Job Training | |
|---|---|
Training Period
|
Monthly rate
|
First six months of training
|
$897.00
|
Second six months of training
|
$657.80
|
Remaining pursuit of training
|
$418.60
|
Correspondence and Flight - Entitlement charged at the rate of one month for each $1,196.00 paid.
Cooperative - $1,196.00
** Tuition and Fees ONLY. Payment cannot exceed the listed amount.
Basic Institutional Rates for persons with remaining entitlement under Chapter 34 of Title 38, U.S.C. Chapter 30 Category II rates effective October 1, 2011.
| Institutional Training | ||||
| Training Time |
Monthly rate
| |||
No
Dependents
|
One
Dependent
|
Two
Dependents
|
Each additional dependent
| |
Full time
|
$1,661.00
|
$1,697.00
|
$1,728.00
|
$16.00
|
¾ time
|
$1,246.25
|
$1,272.75
|
$1,296.25
|
$12.00
|
½ time
|
$830.50
|
$848.50
|
$864.00
|
$8.50
|
Less than ½ time; more than ¼ time
|
$830.50**
| |||
| ¼ time or less | $415.25** | |||
Cooperative Course
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training period | Monthly rate | |||
No
Dependents
|
One
Dependent
|
Two
Dependents
|
Each additional dependent
| |
Oct. 1, 2011 - Sept. 30, 2012
|
$1,661.00
|
$1,697.00
|
$1,728.00
|
$16.00
|
Correspondence - 55% of the approved charges
Flight - 60% of the approved charges
** Tuition and Fees ONLY. Payment cannot exceed the listed amount.
Apprenticeship and On-Job Training
| ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Training Period |
Monthly rate
| |||
No
Dependents |
One
Dependent |
Two
Dependents |
Each additional dependent
| |
First six months of pursuit of program
|
$1,207.50
|
$1,219.88
|
$1,230.75
|
$5.25
|
Second six months
|
$866.53
|
$875.88
|
$883.58
|
$3.85
|
Third six months
|
$539.35
|
$545.48
|
$550.20
|
$2.45
|
Remaining pursuit of program
|
$527.45
|
$533.23
|
$538.48
|
$2.45
|
How Do I Chose A School? Is it Approved?
- To find a school or program please use this very helpful VA provided tool HERE!
For handouts, information and brochures to print and share, please click HERE!
What Are My Other Options- Click HERE for information on the below?
- Other Programs
- Reserve Educational Assistance (REAP)
- Survivors & Dependents Assistance (DEA)
- Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)
- Educational Assistance Test Program
- National Call to Service Program
- Veterans Retraining Assistance Program
To Contact VA or Have Your Questions Answered:
Contact Information
Ask A Question
- You can send us a secure email that will usually be answered within 48 hours or less. You can also search for answers to frequently asked questions and register to be notified of any updates to the information. This contact method is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and can also be utilized worldwide.
Click HERE to enter the "Ask A Question" website.
Telephone
1-888-GIBILL-1 (1-888-442-4551).
Be advised this line only accepts calls from 7:00 AM - 7:00 PM central time Monday - Friday and you may experience long hold times.
Overseas
If you are overseas you can contact us via telephone during business hours, M - F 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM EDT. Students and School Certifying Officials calling from outside the United States may call the Buffalo Regional Office at 716-857-3196 or 716-857-3197. Once connected, the caller can immediately enter "option 1" to be placed in a special priority queue. This is not a toll-free number but the caller will be routed to the next available Customer Service Representative for priority service. This is for Overseas customers only, all others should call the toll-free number or contact us via the Questions & Answers section of this website.
Information used above was provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs websites
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