Printer Friendly Page
COMBAT VETS REACH OUT TO EACH OTHER IN VA
APPOINTMENTS -- The VA calls it the Combat
Veteran
Shared Medical Appointment Program.
Story here...
http://www.commercialappeal.com/
mca/business/article/0,1426,
MCA_440_5509329,00.html
Story below:
---------------
Combat vets reach out to each other in VA
appointments
Photo Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal
On a recent Tuesday, Dr. Keith Novak performed physical examinations on
former military men in a clinic in Whitehaven, then brought them all to
a conference room to discuss their problems, which ranged from erectile
dysfunction to depression.
It was part of the combat veteran shared medical appointment program,
which introduces people returning from Iraq and other recent conflicts
to the federal Veterans Affairs health care system.
Participants sign waivers allowing doctors to discuss their conditions
in front of others. Novak said he got the idea from a professional
conference and began using it for groups of recent veterans in 2004.
"It's better for peer support, for one thing," he said. "And one of the
things that the guys miss a lot and one reason why they have trouble
adjusting when they come back is that they're not with their comrades."
Now, Novak and colleagues plan to hire four more people to administer an
expanded version of the program. They hope it will help veterans get the
mental and physical treatment they need and guide them through a
sometimes confusing VA system.
The planned expansion demonstrates how the VA in Memphis is devoting
more resources to deal with a stream of combat veterans returning from
the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. So far, about 1,600 recent veterans
have come to local VA facilities, but most haven't, he said.
Nationally, only about a third of the 630,000 veterans of the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq have gone to the VA, the agency said. The number
will likely grow as they age and as more come home.
Though VA employees like Novak and his colleagues are clearly trying
hard to help veterans, the agency has its critics. At the national
level, some veterans have faced long waits for appointments at VA health
facilities. Chief business officer Steve Hillis said the Memphis VA is
working hard to give patients appointments within 30 days of the first
request.
And in Memphis this week, patients protested what they said was a sudden
reassignment of a psychologist from the Memphis hospital's residential
post-traumatic stress unit. VA officials declined to comment in detail,
citing employee privacy and an ongoing inquiry.
The need for care is great: Novak and other VA employees say common
problems among veterans include adjustment issues and the psychological
trauma of killing others or coming close to death. Common physical
problems include joint pain related to carrying heavy loads.
Of the four men who came to the VA outpatient clinic on Raines Road for
a recent program, two, David Robison and Vinaris Scott, were Iraq war
veterans. Reginald Terry said he served in Kosovo, and the fourth
declined to comment.
After Novak examined the men, their names and symptoms were written on a
dry-erase board. Nothing, not even embarrassing conditions like
diarrhea, was left off.
Robison's symptoms included depression, memory problems, joint pain and
snoring. Novak went over them one by one, and repeated the process for
other patients.
Novak and psychologist John F. Whirley asked Robison, a 38-year-old
National Guard sergeant living in Oxford, Miss., several questions about
how close he had been to blasts and if he had lost consciousness.
Robison said he had been close to many explosions during his 12 months
in Iraq but didn't recall being knocked out.
Later, Novak said the VA is putting more emphasis on helping people with
traumatic brain injuries from explosions. The injuries can be hard to
detect but can cause problems in areas like concentration, he said.
Robison left with prescriptions for depression, indigestion, joint pain
and a cough. Novak also assigned him to diagnostic tests, including a
study of his sleep patterns.
The session lasted several hours and included talks by a psychiatrist, a
psychologist, a VA benefits specialist and a nutritionist. Novak said
including the mental health professionals in the session is meant to
reduce the stigma of seeking psychological help.
Afterward, Robison said hearing other people talk about their conditions
helps him recall health issues he has had. He said it's also a means of
support.
"You know that more people are having the same or similar things," he
said.
Scott, who held the rank of specialist before leaving the Army three
years ago, said he's unemployed and can't hold some jobs because of his
reactions to loud noises and crowds.
In the meantime, he said he gives talks to religious groups that
emphasize the similarities between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
He said the combat clinic program helps him understand the psychological
reactions left over from his participation in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
"When I go around the house and I may start fussing at my wife or
getting depressed for no reason, start cussing out for no reason," said
Scott, 28. Listening to others makes him feel that he's not crazy or
stupid, he said.
-- Daniel Connolly: 529-5296
---------------
Larry Scott --
