Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit: OEF/OIF Vets Wanted for Walter Reed Comparative PTSD Study
Researchers at the National Intrepid Center of Excellence on the campus of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, are currently recruiting for a study in which they provide free evidence-based therapy to OEF/OIF military veterans, service members, guardsmen, and reservists experiencing combat-related PTSD. (more…)
Uncategorized
LVMAC Tidbit — New Edition of PTSD Booklet Available
To meet the demand, a reprinting of Stephanie Laite Lantham’s Veterans and Families’ Guide for Recovering from PTSD is now available upon request at no cost to those who want to learn more about PTSD and want to know how to help a loved one or a friend. The booklet has also proven unexpectedly useful to the local judiciary and municipalities as well.
“The Guide” was at one time distributed by the Military Order of Purple Heart (MOPH) to the VA Vet Centers in all 50 states. That’s how it came it first came to our attention. We believed booklet could fulfill an additional, special need in our community if tailored to it. Fortunately, the author was willing to work with us. (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit — A Special Veterans Forum, Locally Grown, With a Point
The Lehigh County Veterans’ Mentorship Program, a beneficial county effort which plays shortstop to a full Veterans’ Treatment Court as practiced in other states and a few counties of this Commonwealth, is holding a special Veterans Forum partially as a result of recent veterans’ suicides in the area. It is entitled, “Hope, Healing and Returning Home.” Its purpose is to provide information regarding: suicide prevention, the Veterans’ Mentorship Program itself, and other support services. It will be held on 7 November, between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., at the former Veterans Sanctuary site at 24 S. Fifth St., Allentown. (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit — Allentown VA Clinic Extends Its Operating Hours
Wilkes-Barre VA Offers Evening and Weekend Appointments in Primary and Mental Health Care
We have been informed the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center recently announced that it and one of its satellite facilities, the Allentown Outpatient Clinic, are offering extended appointment hours to better serve their veterans. This has been confirmed. (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbits — Five Guys Decide to Raise Money for ‘Support No Stigma’
Five Guys (Burgers) will be holding the fundraiser from 24 to 26 June for a new local organization, Support No Stigma. If interested in supporting this organization, all you have to do eat at one of the three locations in the area and present the flyer when you pay. Five Guys Read more…
Forward Observer
Forward Observer — Adalberto Morales Introduces Us to Suicide Prevention Services
Adalberto Morales, one of two Suicide Prevention Coordinators at Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center (VAMC), gave an outstanding talk to the Council at its 15 May business meeting. His sole purpose is to help those contemplating suicide to get to needed help, no matter where – within the VA system or within the community. Together with Denise Carey, they operate 24/7 and are busy.
Morales affirmed suicide has become a serious problem for veterans and it is a problem for more than those who have more recently served, the focus of most media articles. He has witnessed an increase among Vietnam era veterans as they retire also. As a result, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates since 2010, a suicide occurs every 11 to 15 minutes (or about 105 suicides daily). Consequently, suicide has risen from the fifteenth to the tenth leading cause of death in the United States.
Making matters worse, the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania are already known for their high suicide rates in their populations. The Wilkes-Barre VAMC has 35 active cases currently being closely monitored, but over the last year, there have been six ‘completions’ and more than 60 “serious attempts” at suicide have occurred – “ideations” being in the hundreds. Therefore, the Wilkes-Barre VAMC Coordinators alternate to provide a 24/7 service, the only ones in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system to do so other than those in the national Crisis Call Center. (more…)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit — Warriors’ Healing Retreat Draws Near
VETERAN HEALING RETREAT
Using the Creative Arts
With Jason Moon
NO ARTISTIC EXPERIENCE OR ABILITY NECESSARY!
FULL SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
June 19 – 23, 2013
Pendle Hill, Wallingford, PA (Click on for map location)
Tidbits
LVMAC Tidbit — We’re Fishing
In case you are wondering what we have been up to regarding our trendsetting fly fishing program which is a partnership project with Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc., click on the image below: (more…)
LVMAC NEWS
LVMAC News — Dr. Bhatia Speaks About the VA’s Mental Health Efforts
WILKES-BARRE VA MEDICAL CENTER SAYS IT IS PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO MENTAL HEALTH AND RECOVERY
Dr. Aruna Bhatia, Chief of Mental/Behavioral Health Services spoke to the Council at its business meeting on 19 December on the advances in care by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In an honest and straightforward talk, she stated there has been a focus on mental health over the last decade and a lot of work done in recovery, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and suicide prevention, albeit with some stumbling along the way. (more…)