America's attention is focused on physical and psychological well being of its soldiers

Nov 10 2009

With the tragic events at Fort Hood in Texas fresh in our minds, this week's observance of Veterans Day, and President Obama's pending decision on future troop levels in Afghanistan, the nation's attention is firmly focused on the physical and psychological well being of those who serve in America's armed forces.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) has worked hard toward easing the burdens of war for many who have served, especially the more than two thousand veterans who have returned home to New Jersey just this year.

Since 2005, UMDNJ's University Behavioral HealthCare unit (UBHC) has operated a New Jersey Veterans' Helpline in collaboration with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMAVA), where those who have served in the military - as well as their families - can reach a trained counselor who also is a military veteran 24 hours a day.

UMDNJ has also played an integral role in the reconstitution of returning New Jersey veterans. More than 200 volunteer counselors working with UBHC and DMAVA have provided psychological screenings to all veterans who have come home from Iraq and Afghanistan this year, and actively provided follow-up counseling both to veterans and to their families.

Nationwide, it is estimated that on average, there is at least one suicide each day among returning members of the military, a reflection of the difficult issues that veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan are facing. To date, no veteran from New Jersey is known to have taken this drastic step, an indication that counseling efforts undertaken in this state by UMDNJ-UBHC appear to be making a positive difference.

Members of the media and others are also invited to view a recent UMDNJ panel discussion on the unique needs of Americans who have served in war. Entitled The Wounds of War: Healthcare On and Off the Battlefield, the event featured the work of UMDNJ-UBHC prominently, along with the experiences of other participants who have either provided or received treatment for the wounds of war.