Reintegration Issues Facing Returning Veterans Caring for Veterans with Post-Deployment Health Concerns: Past, Present and Future Reintegration Issues Facing Returning Veterans Caring for Veterans with Post-Deployment Health Concerns: Past, Present and Future Ron Teichman, MD, MPH, FACP, FACOEM Associate Director – Clinical, Education and Risk Communication War Related Illness and Injury Study Center VA New Jersey Health Care System – East Orange, NJ

We have learned…  Veterans need help learning to access the VA system  What services are available  How to register  VA not only for the seriously wounded  Who can help

We have learned…  The VA needs help understanding this cohort of Veterans  Very consumer savvy population – Think Nordstrom’s not K-Mart  Print is out – texting, podcasting, YouTube, Facebook are in

We have learned…  There is still a huge stigma attached to asking for mental health evaluations and services  Difficulties with concentration and memory are common  Young and beginning life and careers, including law enforcement  Tough to ask for help in the best of circumstances  Including a MH evaluation removes the stigma

We have learned…  New Veterans don’t know what they are entitled to and they don’t/won’t read large stacks of print material  They were given information at a time and in a setting that was not conducive to their receiving the information  They weren’t told via their media of choice

We have learned…  REINTEGRATION is a tremendous issue for these Veterans and many are struggling mightily with it.  Physical and mental health  Support systems  Communications  Financial and employment issues  Educational options  Legal problems  Driving difficulties

We have learned…  Our multi-disciplinary comprehensive clinical evaluation, which focuses on the individual Veteran can be:  Rehabilitative  Normalizing  Reassuring  Therapeutic

The bottom line…  The DoD spends a great deal of time and effort on training these men and women to behave a certain way in order to survive in a combat theater. They are then returned to their civilian lives with no training on how to transition back into a setting where many of those same life saving behaviors, impulses and reflexes are inappropriate, illegal or even hazardous.

 Think about driving skills…  Think about walking down the street and noticing people watching you…  Think about being at work or school and remaining focused on the same task for a protracted period of time without allowing peripheral events to distract you…

 We do not come home from war.  We come home with war.

Thank you