Family support, veteran-to-veteran connections for PTSD-TBI sufferers
Ralph Bozella,chairman of The American Legion's National VA&R Commission, speaks to members of the Legion's PTSD-TBI Committee Friday in Baltimore during the 97th National Convention. Photo by Clay Lomneth/The American Legion

Family support, veteran-to-veteran connections for PTSD-TBI sufferers

Rose Hodgeboom, an American Legion service officer and district vice commander from Lacy, Wash., says that when a veteran is coping with the challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI), help must be provided for the entire family.

“There is no assistance for the spouse,” she told members of The American Legion PTSD-TBI Committee Friday in Baltimore. “She is on an island. If we’re not going to support her, she’s not going to be there to support him. And the children, too.”

The committee’s meeting at the 97th American Legion National Convention focused on total-family therapy – one of the recommendations the committee established after meetings began in 2011 to address improved care for veterans battling with what have been described as the “signature wounds” of the war on terrorism.

“I think we need to focus on direct legislation to deal with families,” committee member and American Legion Past National Commander Ronald F. Conley said. “We focus on the veterans, but we also need to address the effects on the whole family.”

Hodgeboom agrees. She said she has worked with many families of veterans suffering with TBI or PTSD and the common refrain is that “the man who went off to war is not the same man who came home.” When that transition becomes too much for a family to bear without help, they fall apart and the veteran is left to deal with the conditions alone.

American Legion Deputy Director of Health Care Roscoe Butler told the committee that provisions in U.S. Code do provide counseling support for families trying to adjust to the changes of military disability. But Hodgeboom said she was unaware of that particular provision, and so are too many veterans and families.

The committee discussed at length – as it has over the last five years in helping shape policy and legislative direction for The American Legion regarding PTSD and TBI – what works and what does not for suffering families.

Post 9/11 generation veteran Greg Akers, adjutant of The American Legion’s Department of Alabama, offered a solution. “We are the fix to this problem,” he said. “The American Legion.”

He said an independent study of Birmingham-area veterans between 2011 and 2014 indicated that involvement in The American Legion – namely veteran-to-veteran peer support and camaraderie – can avert tragedy for those who have PTSD or TBI. The study, which involved Legion posts and funeral homes in the area, found that among the 16 veteran suicides identified, none were members of The American Legion. He believes that in addition to the veteran-to-veteran support, and understanding from others who have served during wartime, the Legion gives afflicted veterans meaningful activity and purpose. “It’s something to do,” Akers said.

He explained that his department recently conducted its first Veterans Retreat where 32 VA-selected veterans and their families – some of whom had fallen into homelessness due to PTSD or TBI – was not only a huge success, it was also an illustration of the power of veteran-to-veteran support. “The 32 who came want to come back next year as facilitators,” he said.

Area businesses, VA and the YMCA were all involved in making the first such retreat – which included fishing, camping, cards and camaraderie – a reality this year and a certain annual event.

Dave Kurtz, adjutant of The American Legion’s Department of Wisconsin, shared a similar success story but one that’s been helping veterans with mental health conditions for nearly a century.

“Camp American Legion’s origin can be traced to the inspiration of Jim Burns, the Department of Wisconsin’s first service officer, who as early as 1920 would make arrangements for veterans to go camping in northern Wisconsin to get their minds off their problems,” Kurtz explained. “Since the advent of the global war on terror, Camp American Legion has added a number of programs and continues to grow in popularity with Wisconsin military service personnel, veterans and their families.”

Kurtz said the camp has been expanded by 225 acres and offers peer counseling for veterans of all war eras. “Inter-generational contact between veterans is often cited as being of great value.”

However, he said, little in the way of scientific evidence has been produced showing that interactions like Camp American Legion are always effective treatments. He recognized the Legion committee’s often-stated position that PTSD-TBI treatment must be tailored to best serve the individual, whether it’s nature therapy, yoga, hyperbaric oxygen, equine therapy, service dogs, peer support or other approaches.

He said the department is working with Dr. Jeff Whittle of the Medical College of Wisconsin to procure a $250,000 grant for a two-year research project “in order to identify various therapies in practice and coordinate communication between therapists, veterans, researchers and the VA.”

American Legion PTSD-TBI support and advocacy efforts generally lead back to veteran-to-veteran connections. Friday’s meeting also explored the growth in use – and need to promote – VA Vet Centers, where firsthand veteran-to-veteran counseling is provided, often in group settings.

Vet Center use grew by about 30,000 veterans between 2013 and 2014, reported Dr. Marsden McGuire, deputy chief consultant of mental health standards of care for VA. However, noted Conley, “Vet Centers are not always close to the area where treatment is needed.”

Dr. McGuire showed the committee numerous charts and graphs that quantified VA’s performance at trying to reduce waiting times for mental health appointments against a rising tide of demand and a shortage of qualified care providers. He said call volume to VA’s Veteran Crisis Line has soared from 164,101 in 2011 to 450,940 in 2014. Users of VA mental health services, he added, grew by 70 percent between 2005 and 2014.

“This is an urgent problem,” Kurtz told the committee. “We need to get it done right, not just done.”

“The first stop,” American Legion Past National Commander Robert W. Spanogle said, “is The American Legion.”