The excellent program sponsored by UCLA and Zocalo featured three panels and a key note speech from a Congresswoman from Hawaii.
The first forum moderated by Tony Perry, San Diego Bureau Chief, Los Angeles Times included Colin Archipley, CEO, Veterans Sustainable Agriculture Training, James Cragg, Director of Green Vets Los Angeles, and Raymond Toenniessen, Director of New Initiatives and External Relations, Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Syracuse University.
Archipley stated that training young people to be warriors is not a natural process...we prepare them to fight but not help them transition to regular living. Also military families are isolated. He said that those who serve in the military should be trained to prepare for transitioning to civilian life from day one of their enlistment.
Cragg said that government jobs are not like the private sector. Some in the military get used to "living on the government dime." We need to provide vets with the structure for success. We need to appreciate military leaders and not pity vets. Also the V.A.needs to get it story out on the many resources available...better public relations campaign.
Toenniessen said that Vets are drivers for success and that the G.I. bill is a great resources...Vets need to use it...spouses can use it too...service members train well. He said the families experience just as much stress as the soldier. Large corporations are doing a lot for Vets but small business don't have the resources. For Reservists and National Guard soldiers, they are isolated when they return home and if small business owners...they loose while they are deployed. He recommends a government and private business partnership to prepare for the needs of veterans.
Panel 2 was entitled "How are the Wars Changing Medicine?" Kelly Kennedy, health reporter for USA today moderated the panel made up of Dr. Kodi Azari, Co-director, Operation Mend, and a plastic surgeon, Dr. David Hovda, Director, UCLA Brain Injury Research Center, and Dr. Dean Norman, Chief of Staff, V.A. Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System.
Dr. Norman talked about the many services of the L.A. V.A. including a female veteran clinic, integration of medical and mental health clinics, and the focus on homeless vets. He said he had 80 Social Workers when he started and now has 400. He said they had 700 beds for homeless Vets on the campus plus 5,000 in the community. They have gone from 25,000 homeless in L.A. to 6,000 and have a goal of zero by 2015. In addition they now have integrated health care records and communicating with Vets by e-mail, facebook and through telehealth. They also have team care to manage polytrauma. This is where care coordinators are important. They are also using an array of services including dance therapy, Tai Chi, and art therapy and service military nurses as well as soldiers who also have PTSD.
Dr. Azari said that more people are surviving war with tremendous injuries. This is due to the excellent emergency response by Medics and others. The knowledge gained has transferred to civilian life as seen as the response to the Boston bombing. He also said that the dirty bombs used...including body parts of animals...has lead to severe infections. The medical field has gained skills in extremity transplants and tissue engineering...they now can grow skin. They are even transplanting faces. He said that military personnel are good patients...they follow orders. He is amazed by their spirit.
Dr. Hovda's knowledge of brain injuries in the military has transferred to treating head injuries in athletes. He said that traumatic brain injury affects the whole family. These "invisible wounds" can now be seen through brain imaging. He said the V.A. now has tremendous rehabilitation centers for those with traumatic brain injuries.
He said that his work with the National Football League has resulted in the identification of brain concussions and the treatment which is rest and rehabilitation. A brain needs at least 10 to 14 days to heal and sometimes longer.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block introduced the key note speaker. He talked about their collaboration with the V.A. and their programs to prepare vets for university life including "Boots to Bruins." He introduced Tulsi Gabbard, born in American Samoa and raised in Hawaii is the youngest person to be elected to the Hawaii State Legislature, she then volunteered for the military, deployed in Iraq for two tours of duty, serves in the Hawaii National Guard and represents Hawaii's 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House. She is one of the first two female combat veterans, the first Hindu and the first female of Samoan ancestry to ever serve as a member of the U.S. Congress.
Representative Gabbard said that many Washington leaders don't understand the impact of service on soldiers and family and that they need to recognize the sacrifice, service and talents of the veterans. This includes leadership, being a good team member, and the ability to get the job done. She said that 250,000 soldiers are transitioning to civilian life each year. She talked about special programs such as the Small Business Administrations programs for Vets. Her goal is to get the skills easily transferable recognized by easily license as a truck driver, medics and praised programs like "Operation Mend."
The final panel, "How Do Wars Affect Families?" was moderated by Patricia Leigh Brown, report, the New York Times with panelists Megan Glynn, Deputy Director of Membership, Blue Star Families, Dr. Judith Broder, Founder and Director, The Soldiers Project, and Dr. Patricia Lester, Director, UCLA Nathanson Family Resilience Center.
Patricia Brown began by stating that military children move 6 to 9 times between kindergarten and high school graduation. Megan Glynn is a UCLA graduate and member of the women's soccer team. After graduation she was married and moved with her husband to Germany, eventually having 3 children. As a military spouse for 10 years, she has mentored and assisted many other families. She said that her husband deployed 3 times and each one was difficult...especially the weeks before and after. She developed the 2 week rule where her husband is not allowed to criticize or comment on her parenting of their children for at least two weeks after returning. She said that spouses are ambivalent about deployment ending and that sometimes the break from married life was appreciated.
Later one member of the audience said that he is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, a Marine and now in the MBA program at UCLA on the G.I. Bill, but admitted that the hardest thing for him has been the re-entry into family life that at times he is afraid of his two young children.
Dr. Lester is a psychiatrist and works in the welcome back program with families under stress. She is helping families build on their resilience. She encouraged schools to be aware of the children of military personnel and be sensitive to their needs.
Dr. Broder is also a psychiatrist and engages volunteer therapists to provide free service. She said that the bond of military service...brothers in battle...is very powerful and is a big loss after leaving service. She said that Vets have trouble finding purpose and meaning in the new lives. She said that they were children (brains are not fully developed until age 25) when they enlisted and then had children.
The afternoon was very powerful and at times moving. I learned a lot about the needs of military service personnel and their families. Hopefully our society learns a lot as well and responds to the challenges and gifts.
 |
| U.S. House of Representatives member, Tulsi Gabbard, Hawaii |
No comments:
Post a Comment