VA Mental Health Care – Ensuring Timely Access to High-Quality Care

It is now 10 years since the United States went to war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan before that. The cost of these wars has been very high.

It is now 10 years since the United States went to war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan before that. The cost of these wars has been very high.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is publishing a proposed regulation in the Federal Register that would change its rules to add five diagnosable illnesses which are secondary to service-connected Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Scientists from the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and the Clement Zablocki VA Medical Center received a one-year, $20,000 grant from the Clinical and Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin (CTSI) to study the capacity of stem cells derived from bone marrow to assist in the healing of traumatic brain injury.

At last year’s National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic (NVSSC) in San Diego, Steven Bradford faced his fiercest competitor.

Four Department of Veterans Affairs researchers were among the 96 recipients of the 2011 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) honored at a ceremony held last month. The PECASE is the highest honor conferred by the U.S. government on federal researchers in the early stages of their careers.

VA has launched a comprehensive program to identify, screen and treat all Veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI), and to ensure that they receive patient-centered, integrated care and benefits.

If so, VA Research would like to invite you to register and attend our national forum event on Thursday, April 26 in Washington, DC. This year’s theme is, Caring for Veterans through Discovery and Collaboration.

Five years after suffering a traumatic brain injury in combat, Chris Carver is among a growing legion of veterans from operations in Iraq and Afghanistan who have discovered the healing power of helping other wounded warriors on their road to recovery.

The Department of Defense and VA are using their partnered programs to identify and treat traumatic brain injury.

Iraq War Veteran Amber Stone, a native of Claremore, Okla., has always loved to write – from short stories to poems to journal entries and internet blogs.

The VA has the increased challenge of meeting the needs of the veterans returning from OIF and OEF.

VA recently launched a campaign to increase awareness about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and the services provided to Veterans and service members recovering from TBI and co-occurring complex injuries.

Successfully treating dead and dying brain cells, whether caused by a Stroke or by roadside bomb concussion, or any trauma has proven difficult and not very efficient.

Patients diagnosed with traumatic brain injury (TBI) had over twice the risk of developing dementia within seven years after diagnosis compared to those without TBI, in a study of more than 280,000 older veterans conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.

A recent study conducted by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reveals the extent of internal eye injuries (closed-eye ocular injuries) among Veterans who have sustained blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI).

A year after its ribbon-cutting ceremony, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence is making a difference in the lives of warfighters suffering traumatic brain injuries and psychological disorders, said Dr. James Kelly, the center’s director.

The members of the Veteran panel discussion share their experience returning home after combat deployment.

Military personnel with severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) should receive early adequate nutrition immediately after the injury, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
Both survived an IED blast, three years apart, and struggle with aftermath MOORPARK, Calif. — The crisply ironed uniforms of the father and son hang side by side in what they have dubbed the “Marine Corps closet,” a dark space filled with vestiges of their tours of duty. Two Purple Hearts. A backpack full of [...]
If Giffords does end up receiving it, she’ll be getting a treatment that many troops don’t. As we’ve reported [7], the Pentagon’s health program, Tricare, has refused to cover [8] cognitive rehabilitation therapy for the tens of thousands of service members who have suffered brain injuries in the line of duty. Tricare, which provides insurance-style coverage to troops and many veterans, does cover speech and occupational therapy, which are often part of cognitive rehabilitation.
WASHINGTON – Helping severely wounded Veterans and Servicemembers recover and reintegrate into their families and communities was the theme of a joint Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) two-day conference at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md. “One [...]
From the VA: 1. Baker: VA Can Benefit From “Open Source Community Based Around VistA.” FierceGovernmentIT (10/26, Walker) reports, “Public debate over the electronic road ahead for the Veterans Affairs Department is often informed by a series of high-profile information technology project failures at the department,” whose “Chief Information Officer Roger Baker has told Congress and [...]
MEDICAL ADVANCES: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURIES (TBIs) By Texas Vet, First Cavalry Decades ago, I got blown up—literally outside a tin can sh*t and shower hut while guarding one our military’s several DMZs (de-militarized zones)—Wild West-like territories separating two or more or warring factions. I suffered first, second and third degree burns along with head [...]
Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, July 21, 2010, House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) led a roundtable discussion to review innovative treatment options for veterans injured while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. More than 20 participants shared relevant information concerning treatment tools that have been developed or are in development concerning traumatic brain [...]
Senior Defense Department officials have stressed repeatedly in public they are doing everything they can to provide the best care possible to U.S. troops injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. But that might not be the case for the tens of thousands of troops who have experienced some form of brain injury.

TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY (TBI): JUST THE FACTS By Carol Ware Duff MSN, BA, RN Injuries to the brain may be more common than you know. With exposure to blasts, the military is a prime target for such an injury. Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired injury to the brain by an abrupt trauma. In [...]