American Psychiatric Foundation, Lilly Foundation and Give an Hour Join Forces to Provide Mental Health Care to Iraq and Afghani
20 May 2008 - 12:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Expanded Network of Volunteer Mental Health Professionals Will
Respond to a Growing Public Health Crisis for Thousands of Veterans
and Their Families WASHINGTON, May 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Heeding the call of a growing public health crisis -- the unmet
mental health needs of returning soldiers and their families --
Give an Hour (GAH) and the American Psychiatric Foundation (APF)
announced today a major expansion of a nationwide effort to help
U.S. veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. GAH and APF, the
philanthropic and educational arm of the American Psychiatric
Association (APA), will be using a $1 million grant from the Lilly
Foundation to recruit and educate volunteer mental health
professionals, who will become part of a network aiming to bridge
the gap in mental health services for soldiers returning from
service, as well as their families. Among troops returning from
Iraq and Afghanistan, approximately 40 percent of soldiers, a third
of Marines, and half of the National Guard members report
psychological problems, but mental health services are in short
supply. Details of today's announcement were made public by the
three organizations at the Reserve Officers Association (ROA)
building on Capitol Hill -- one week prior to the nation's Memorial
Day holiday. The ROA represents the interest of the soldiers of the
Army National Guard, who suffer high rates of post-combat
psychological problems, exacerbated by repeat deployments, detailed
front-line combat positions and little access to the services of
military treatment facilities. "This all-volunteer effort provides
badly needed support to help our veterans, many of whom come home
with mental health needs," said U.S. Representative Steve Buyer
(R-Indiana), Ranking Member, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs.
"I applaud the hard work of Give an Hour, the American Psychiatric
Foundation, and the Lilly Foundation, which are stepping up to help
those who have selflessly served." Efforts will be made to create a
large, national, volunteer network over the next three years to
address postwar mental health issues such as post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), drug abuse, anxiety
and depression. "This grant will allow us to get out the message
that help is available. We want to normalize what our military
personnel and their families are experiencing and support the
sacrifices that they are making by providing critical mental health
support at no cost," said Barbara V. Romberg, Ph.D., founder and
president of GAH. "We will be educating the military community and
broader public about these mental health needs in hope of helping
veterans keep their lives and families intact." GAH is recruiting
mental health professionals to volunteer one hour each week for a
minimum of one year to provide direct services in person, by phone
or in consultation with schools and community organizations that
serve the military community. Services are wide-ranging and include
marital and family therapy, substance abuse counseling and
treatment for PTSD. APF brings strong ties to the psychiatric
community and is actively encouraging psychiatrists to join the
network. "This grant will help us reach our goal of recruiting 10
percent of the 400,000 mental health professionals in the United
States by 2015 to assist in this effort," said Dr. Richard K.
Harding, M.D., president of the APF. "It is an ambitious goal, but
we are confident it can be achieved." The Department of Defense
(DoD) is making an unprecedented attempt to encourage personnel to
seek mental health treatment, but a significant increase in demand,
in some areas, has forced the rationing of services, created long
waiting lists and limited individual counseling sessions. In
addition, some members of military families such as parents,
siblings and unmarried partners do not qualify for care through the
Veterans Administration or DoD but are affected nonetheless by the
mental health of the veteran. "We're privileged to be able to give
something back to our troops, but we know there's still much more
to be done," said Steven Paul, M.D., executive vice president for
science and technology and president of Lilly Research
Laboratories. "Lilly is fully committed to assuring that the best
possible medicinal treatments are available, but unfortunately, we
also know that having access to the best care -- in this case
mental health services -- is essential." About Give an Hour Give an
Hour is a nonprofit 501(c)(3), founded in September 2005 by Dr.
Barbara V. Romberg, a psychologist in the Washington, D.C., area.
The organization's mission is to develop national networks of
volunteers capable of responding to both acute and chronic
conditions that arise within our society. Currently, GAH is
dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and
families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Give an Hour now has approximately 1,200 providers across the
nation and continues to recruit volunteer mental health
professionals to its network. For more information or to volunteer
to become part of the effort, please visit
http://www.giveanhour.org/. About The American Psychiatric
Foundation The American Psychiatric Foundation is the charitable
and educational subsidiary of the American Psychiatric Association.
The mission of the foundation is to advance understanding that
mental illnesses are real and can be effectively treated. For more
information, please visit the foundation's web site at
http://www.psychfoundation.org/. About Lilly Lilly, a leading
innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of
first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by
applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories
and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations.
Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers --
through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most
urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is
available at http://www.lilly.com/. C-LLY (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO )
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20031219/LLYLOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company
CONTACT: Ed Sagebiel of Lilly in Washington, +1-317-985-6303, or
Lauren Cislak of Lilly in Indianapolis, +1-317-655-0453; Rhondalee
Dean-Royce of American Psychiatric Association, +1-703-907-7820;
Lauren Itzkowitz of Give an Hour, +1-301-933-4140
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