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MILITARY FACES BIG HURDLES IN GOALS FOR MENTAL
HEALTH CARE -- The shortage in Army uniformed
therapists
is having an impact on the Iraq war. Some
mental health
counselors are burned out by their war
experience.
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http://www.usatoday
.com/news/world/iraq/2007-0
9-26-mentalhealth_N.htm
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Military faces big hurdles in goals for mental
health care
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
The Pentagon said it would take at least eight
months to complete major improvements to its mental health program,
which treats troops with post-traumatic stress disorder and other
conditions.
The military made the announcement this week in response to a task force
report issued in June that found mental health care for the troops and
their families "woefully inadequate."
The Pentagon said that key issues such as hiring more mental health
caregivers and increasing coverage under the military's health care
system, could not be met until May of next year or later.
The Army announced in June it would hire 200 civilian psychiatrists,
psychologists, psychiatric nurses and social workers. It later raised
that to 265, a 23% increase in those job categories for the Army. By
last week, the Army had filled 40% of the jobs.
Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., who pushed for the task force, applauded
the Pentagon's plan, but called for quicker action.
The shortage in Army uniformed therapists is having an impact on the
Iraq war, where Navy and Air Force counselors are helping the army treat
soldiers. The number of mental health providers has not kept pace with
the additional 30,000 U.S. troops sent to Iraq this year, according to
Army statistics provided to USA TODAY. In addition, the Army says some
mental health counselors are burned out by their war experience.
"Medical providers are fatigued by the strains of the caring for injured
soldiers and soldiers suffering from the psychological effects of
deployment, including PTSD," says Col. Elspeth Ritchie, psychiatric
consultant to the Army surgeon general, referring to post-traumatic
stress disorder. "We are planning to put additional providers at each
major installation specifically to support providers."
Experienced therapists continue to leave the military for better-paying
and less stressful jobs in the private sector. The Navy, for example,
expects to lose a dozen of its 88 psychiatrists this fiscal year and 25
of 116 psychologists, according to data released at a Marine Corps
conference in June. Incentives have been created to keep or recruit new
psychiatrists and psychologists, including retention bonuses and college
loan repayment offers.
In its response this week to the June task force report, the Pentagon
listed several goals it could not meet until May. They include
additional staffing and ensuring that military spouses and children have
better access to mental health care.
Another two dozen recommendations will not be met until beyond May, the
response says. Those include a recommendation that any access to mental
health care for military families be "timely."
The Army is preparing a recruiting program aimed at older physicians and
mental health providers, aged 48 to 60. They would allow for enlistments
of only two years, Army Col. Larry Bolton says.
Meanwhile, the level of mental health care in the Iraq war zone — as a
ratio of providers to troops — is the lowest since 2004, Army statistics
show. Care has dropped from one counselor per 668 troops last year to
one for every 743 this year.
Ritchie and Army Col. Carl Castro, a psychologist who has studied war
zone care, say they believe the ratio is still adequate.
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Larry Scott --
