Wireless Connectivity

In an attempt to provide a new resource to alleviate psychological and emotional health issues as well as problems associated with traumatic brain injury for military personnel, the U.S. Department of Defense has launched a new Outreach Center that will offer round-the-clock assistance to veterans and their family members. The 24/7 Outreach Center is part of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, or DCoE. The Department of Defense plans to ensure the center is always staffed with trained, professional health-resource consultants.

“The DCoE call center provides specific subject-matter expertise on psychological health and traumatic brain injury,” said Lolita O'Donnell, DCoE acting director for clearinghouse, outreach and advocacy during a joint interview that took place yesterday with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service. The DCoE plans to make the new contact center's services unique by offering help in a narrow area – psychological health and traumatic brain injury – that is a current concern of deployed and returning troops, veterans and their families.

“We have reliable, credible resources and tools in psychological health and brain injury,” said O'Donnell. “We also serve as a clearinghouse for all these relevant tools and resources that DOD has produced in collaboration with the VA.”

Recent reports have indicated a sharp increase in the number of U.S. troops that have been evacuated from war regions in Iraq and Afghanistan for psychiatric reasons. According to study a few years ago conducted by Johns Hopkins and published the British medical journal Lancet, more troops have been evacuated due to mental health problems than for combat injuries. Other studies have suggested that at least one in six soldiers returning home from deployment are suffering from some variant of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

The new outreach center plans to do more than just refer veterans to other resources. It plans to actively participate in hunting down the best professional treatment services available, helping make introductions between help seekers and health professionals. “We don’t want to turn anyone away, that’s why we established what we call a ‘warm handoff transfer’ with the VA crisis line,” said O’Donnell. “Both of us helping our service members who are in crisis -- we feel like we’re more effective.” In addition, calls from veterans or their family members can remain anonymous, helping to remove the stigma or career repercussions some fear will come attached to seeking help.

The Outreach Center plans to make its services available to families of service members as readily as the military personnel themselves. “Families are the connecting link for all of us because if our families are not supported then our service members will probably not do well in the job they need to do,” said O'Donnell.