DoD and Army Work to Provide Psychological Health Care When It’s Needed Most

The Army is ever increasing its efforts to treat and provide continuity of care for soldiers with psychological health issues, an Army psychological health expert said at the 2010 MHS Conference Jan. 25.

“We've got a tremendous sense of mission now,” said Col. Elspeth C. Ritchie, M.D., M.P.H., psychiatry advisor to the Army surgeon general. Ritchie said that the Army has increased behavioral health providers by 50 percent since 2007.

In addition to the increase in providers, Ritchie said that the Army has and will continue to install new programs that will reach the warriors who need help, increase effective treatments for those who have already sought help, and combat the rise in suicides. The programs include using telehealth services that can treat patients through the use of video teleconferencing and Webcams.

Ritchie said that after creating innovative programs to meet the needs service members there still remains the challenge to implement the programs in a way that is effective and useful. Among the barriers to care for service members is the stigma sometimes associated with seeking psychological health care. While efforts to eliminate stigma are increasing, it is still necessary to ensure that policies are also in place that protect those service members who seek help.

As the Army increases its efforts in this arena, the Department of Defense is doing the same, said Capt. Edward Simmer, senior executive director for psychological health at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumati..., and also a speaker at the conference.

“We must provide the best possible care in the worst possible place,” said Simmer, reminding that service members need to receive the highest quality care available in some of the most remote locations – from warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan to Reservists battling PTSD in Minnesota many miles away from a behavioral health provider. Simmer, too, suggested the use of telehealth in these circumstances.

Simmer highlighted a model for care based on “resilience, recovery and reintegration.” As service members go through the continuum of care this model provides a way to help prevent future issues, acknowledge and heal from any injury that may occur (physical or psychological), and reintegrate back into life whether from an injury or just returning from deployment.

Empowering line leaders, service members and families to take responsibility for service members' psychological health is another way to increase access to psychological health services, Simmer said. With protocols in place to enable line leaders to identify problems and make the initial intervention, warriors could get the needed help sooner.

Simmer also stressed the importance of partnering with civilian health care providers to increase the number of behavioral health providers available. The DoD, along with the services, is actively working to provide warriors access to the best psychological health care available, when they need it most.

By Sarah Heynen | DCoE