Massachusetts General Hospital

Supporting the Mental Health of Veterans and Families

From the War Zone to the Home Front

06/Feb/2012

February 6, 2012 - BOSTON – A series of 14 free, live, on-line trainings for primary care, VA, community mental health, and other providers begins Thursday, February 23, 2012. This education series: “From the War Zone to the Home Front: Supporting the Mental Health of Veterans and Families” is presented by the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD.

One in three U.S. Service Members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan will experience signs of combat stress, depression, PTSD or symptoms of a traumatic brain injury.  Approximately half of our Veterans will receive their care at VA, which is staffed with experts in these problems. Other Veterans, and their family members, will seek care in community settings. Primary care and community mental health clinicians want and need to be prepared.

The Home Base Program in collaboration with the VA’s National Center for PTSD is providing this free educational series to help primary care and mental healthcare providers in the community to be ready to support our troops and families.  The series will be live, online, airing on every Thursday starting Feb. 23^st from 11:30am -12:30pm ET. This interactive format allows clinicians to ask questions of presenters, and all sessions are archived online. As a community service, continuing education credits will also be available free of charge.

The series is led by clinical experts in:

• diagnosing and treating PTSD and TBI with traditional and complimentary evidence-based therapy;
• recognizing and addressing emotional stresses in families of Veterans with PTSD or TBI;
• supporting the needs of military families including spouses, partners, parents, and children

For more information on the From the War Zone to the Home Front educational series, register at www.mghcme.org/homefront, or visit:  http://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/pages/fslist-continuing-education.asp

Media Contacts: Lee Chelminiak lchelminiak@partners.org
Laurie Slone laurie.slone@va.gov