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UNIVERSITY PROJECT FOCUSES ON NEEDS OF RETURNING

WAR VETERANS -- "It's a big readjustment because a

lot of the skills they need to survive during war

don't serve them well in the civilian world."

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Story here... http://www.rep-am.com/
articles/2007/10/12/news/289944.txt

Story below:

-------------------------

Project focus on needs of returning war veterans

BY EMILY BEAVER
REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

NEW BRITAIN -- When Sgt. Matt Talbot returned to Connecticut in 2006 after serving in Iraq with the Marine Corps, he had tension in his shoulder, bone chips in his ankle and anxiety.

But Talbot, now a full-time business student at Northwestern Connecticut State University, has to travel 50 minutes from his home in Torrington to receive the care he needs at a VA hospital in Newington. Sometimes, he has to miss class to attend doctor's appointments, a choice 23-year-old Talbot said he doesn't want to make.

On Friday, he went to a summit at Central Connecticut State University to ask state officials how they plan to accommodate veterans like himself, who return from conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan to face a health care system that can be difficult to navigate, benefits buried beneath mounds of paperwork and a community they don't seem to fit into anymore.

"I haven't had a negative experience, but there's room for improvement," Talbot said.

Talbot was one of about 200 people who attended the summit, part of a yearlong project by the university's Center for Public Policy and Social Research to find out how state agencies can better serve the needs of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Health care administrators, patient advocates and social workers joined veterans to address the problems they face as they return to civilian life, including traumatic brain injuries and estrangement from their families.

Difficulty with interpersonal relationships was identified as a common problem among the state's veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to preliminary findings in a study the center is currently conducting.

Over the summer, the center sent a 205-question survey to 2,000 Connecticut veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Marc Goldstein and James Malley, who are conducting research, said they have received responses from about 230 veterans and expect to collect more surveys.

About 24 percent of survey respondents reported post traumatic stress disorder, which can lead to problems within relationships, Goldstein said. Many veterans also said they felt too "tightly wound," had problems with aggressiveness or had trouble relating to people who are not veterans when returning to their communities.

"It's a big readjustment because a lot of the skills they need to survive during war don't serve them well in the civilian world," Goldstein said.

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Larry Scott  --

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