The Wounded Warrior Project is funding a new program that aims to help improve the mental health services and care for veterans in the private sector.
$70 million is being used by the charity to fund four of the United States’ top academic medical facilities, with focus on those who suffer from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and traumatic brain injury.
According to WWP Chief Program Officer Jeremy Chwat, the initiative is to be called The Warrior Care Network and will create a series of programs that will combine behavioral health care with rehabilitative medicine, wellness, nutrition, mindfulness and family support for post-9/11 veterans and their families.
“Tapping into private health care is something we think can benefit not only the warriors in our program but those who are accessing mental health treatment at VA and other programs,” says Chwat.
Participants include Emory University’s Veterans Program, Atlanta; the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital’s Home Base Program, Boston; Operation Mend at the University of California- Los Angeles; and Rush University Medical Center’s Road Home Program in Chicago.
Wounded Warrior Project helps 70,000 U.S. Veterans through initiatives ranging from its Independence Program, which helps severely disabled veterans to live in their homes and communities, to employment for veterans in a program called Warriors to Work, and combat stress recovery programs.
Chwat claims that the Warrior Care Network will provide “culturally sensitive care” to veterans, follow progress, and share practices with other organizations in the community of mental health.
He also claims that the goal is to not only serve veterans in the network, but to raise the standard of care for veterans’ mental health for all private practitioners.
“As they are treating warriors, these organizations can talk to one another and learn from one another. We can also track data and outcomes and really learn what is best practice in providing mental health care for wounded warriors,” says Chwat.
Some members of the mental health community have been concerned that private-sector mental health providers do not possess the background and understanding needed to assist combat veterans and those with military-related psychiatric conditions.
A study conducted by Rand Corp. discovered that private care efforts can be an alternative to VA care if the providers are educated in treating veterans and understanding of the conditions that affect veterans.
Chwat claims that programs much like the Warrior Care could attract U.S. Veterans who have been hesitant to seek care at the VA.
“Let’s face it, some warriors won’t go to VA We believe there is a role the private sector can play in providing treatment and there’s a level of expertise that these private sector health care centers have accumulated over time,” stated Chwat.
Although the sites of the programs are at various locations across the U.S., they are not limited to only veterans near the facilities. Chwat advises that any veteran who is ill, injured, wounded, or served since September 11th, 2001 is eligible and should contact the Wounded Warrior Project in regards to the programs.
He claims, “cutting-edge, integrated mental health care … this is not just one facility or one program operating in isolation but truly an aggregation of the outcomes to learn lessons and better the care for thousands of wounded warriors.”
The Archuleta Law Firm handles injury, death, and veterans medical malpractice claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act. We handle claims in all 50 States and Worldwide. Our focus is helping Veterans, and the families of Veterans and Military Service Members in their claims involving Veterans (VA) Hospitals, Doctors and Clinics and Military Hospitals, Doctors and Clinics. We handle claims involving the Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and the U.S. Air Force.
Source: Military Times
