Top 10 Veterans News from Around the Country 1-5-09

1. Shinseki’s Hearing Part Of "Confirmation Chaos" In Senate.  
2. Tight Job Market Faces Ira/Afghanistan Veterans.  
3. Incidence Of Military Sexual Trauma Among Female Veterans Spotlighted.  
4. Iraq Veteran Says VA Can Treat PTSD.  
5. Disability Compensation Adjustment Factors Detailed.  
6. Connecticut Town Welcomes Home Veterans.  
7. Lawsuit Claims Army Suicide Prevention Program Promotes Christianity.
8. Veteran Rated 40% Disabled Prepares To Return To Afghanistan.  
9. Computerized Records Said To Be No Cure-All For US Healthcare.  
10. VA Hospitals Say New Protocols Have Resulted In Fewer MRSA Infections. 

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HAVE YOU HEARD?
VA scientist Keith Humphreys will receive the 2009 American Psychological Association (APA) award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest for his efforts building mental health service systems for VA and Iraq. As director of VA’s Program Evaluation and Resource Center in Palo Alto, Calif., Humphreys was in Washington D.C. in 2004 to develop VA’s national Strategic Plan for Mental Health when he was asked to volunteer on a task force set up by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration to rebuild the Iraqi Ministry of Health’s shattered mental health care system. “It was a daunting prospect, but also an exciting one”, said Humphreys. “As soon as I met Dr. Sabah Sadik, Iraq’s national mental health adviser, I was hooked. It wasn’t just the level of need he described, but it was also his courage and that of his colleagues that inspired me to join up”. Humphreys has since conducted mental health trainings and policy consultations with Iraqi medical professionals in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq, where he expects to return this spring. Meanwhile, he also helped guide a major increase in VA’s national web of mental health services that has positioned VA as the largest and most recognized authority on mental health services and therapies in the world. Humphrey’s will receive the award at the APA National Convention August 6-9, 2009 in Toronto.

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 1.      Shinseki’s Hearing Part Of "Confirmation Chaos" In Senate.   In the third story in his Washington Post (1/5) column, Al Kamen writes that there will soon be "Confirmation Chaos" in the Senate "as committees there, with Jan. 16 as a deadline, try to hold hearings on most, if not all, of President-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet picks." Kamen notes that the Veterans Affairs Committee is scheduled to hear "from Gen. Eric K. Shinseki," the VA secretary nominee, on the 14th of January.

2.      Tight Job Market Faces Ira/Afghanistan Veterans.   The Las Vegas Review-Journal (1/4, Whitely) reports, "Gregory Kamm of Las Vegas did close combat on the streets of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004. He didn’t think he’d have to fight just as hard to find a job in Las Vegas in 2008, after completing earlier this year his third deployment. Kamm, 25, is one of many veterans back from Iraq or Afghanistan struggling to reintegrate into the recession-wracked civilian workplace. … Kamm’s job struggle is not isolated. Other local veterans who served in Iraq or Afghanistan also are reporting job snags. Some can’t find work at all; others find the prior job or employer has altered in ways that put the veteran at a disadvantage."

3.      Incidence Of Military Sexual Trauma Among Female Veterans Spotlighted.   The Las Vegas Review-Journal (1/4, Whitely) reports, "Nevada women are fighting the global war on terrorism, too. Just like the guys, they are getting injured, winning Purple Hearts and then striving to fit back in at home. Just like the guys, they are proud to have served. … National data show female soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are more likely than the men to face several further hardships. They are far more likely than the men to have suffered military sexual trauma while serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the federal Department of Veterans Affairs itself. The VA defines military sexual trauma as a sexual assault, sexual battery or being threatened for sex. The rate of military sexual trauma is one in seven — or 15 percent — of female vets from the two current wars who then access the VA for services, compared to less than 1 percent of male counterparts who have gone to the VA." According to the Review-Journal, "The Veterans Affairs group that studied military sexual trauma among the forces in Iraq and Afghanistan just presented its findings in October at a public-health conference in San Diego. Soldiers who screened positive for military sexual trauma, it found, are three times more likely to be diagnosed with such conditions as post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, anxiety or substance abuse. The VA defines sexual trauma carefully, to exclude stray sex-based comments or the sight of a girlie calendar. … None of the Nevada women vets interviewed acknowledged being a victim or knowing a female victim of military sexual trauma."
      The Las Vegas Review-Journal (1/4, Whitley) also publishes interviews with female veterans.

4.      Iraq Veteran Says VA Can Treat PTSD.   The Evansville (IN) Courier & Press (12/5, Matthews) profiles Iraq veteran Billy Sears, who "served with the Evansville-based 163rd Field Artillery, a National Guard unit whose members have been deployed to Iraq." The 26-year-old Sears "was discharged in 2006 after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder." Currently, Sears "sees a counselor once a week at the Evansville Veterans Center." He says he wants "to get the word out to others who’ve come back from the war. I want them to know there’s a place to go for help."

5.       Disability Compensation Adjustment Factors Detailed.   The Indiana Gazette‘s Veterans’ Corner (1/4) notes, "Disability compensation for veterans can be affected by several different factors. Adjustments to rates are based on a number of factors in addition to dependents. … Veterans with severe service-connected disabilities may receive compensation at a basic rate as high as $7,232 per month. Various special monthly compensation rates apply when a veteran experiences loss or loss of use of one or more limbs; loses one or more of the senses of sight, hearing or speech; or experiences loss of a reproductive organ or its use, or loss of breast tissue by a female veteran. Allowances may be made for veterans requiring aides, such as bedridden individuals who need assistance with eating, bathing or certain other activities of daily living. This adjustment if referred to as ‘aid and attendance.’ Veterans whose service-connected disability leaves them unable to maintain gainful employment may meet criteria for allowances at the 100 percent compensation rate under a benefit called ‘individual unemployability.’" 

6.      Connecticut Town Welcomes Home Veterans.   The Middletown (CT) Press (1/5, Mill) reports, "The town has developed a tradition of welcoming home" events for men and women from Portland, Connecticut, "who have served overseas in the armed forces. In particular, officials have made a point to welcome home those residents who have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan."

7.      Lawsuit Claims Army Suicide Prevention Program Promotes Christianity. The Public Record‘s (http://pubrecord.org/religion/597-army-manual-promotes-christianity-to-combat-epidemic-of-suicides.html)  Jason Leopold (1/3) reports, ¨DThe U.S. Army‘s suicide prevention manual advises military chaplains to promote ‗religiosity,‘ specifically Christianity, as a way to deter distraught soldiers from taking their own lives, according to an amended federal lawsuit filed last week against Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and the Department of Defense. The 2008 Army Suicide Prevention Manual says ‗Chaplains… need to openly advocate behavioral health as a resource‘ to treat suicidal soldiers and instructs behavioral health providers ‗to openly advocate spirituality and religiosity as resiliency factors.‘ .. According to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), the watchdog group that is a co-plaintiff in the federal lawsuit filed against Gates and the Defense Department, the PowerPoint presentation ‗is not only an unconstitutional promotion of Christianity for the soldiers who are mandated to attend it, but for the behavioral health providers and non-Christian chaplains who must present it.‘¡¬

8.      Veteran Rated 40% Disabled Prepares To Return To Afghanistan.   The DeKalb Daily Chronicle (1/4, Herra) reports, "Share Spc. Matthew Overton doesn’t like to sit with his back to the door. When choosing a place to sit in a coffee shop, the 25-year-old U.S. Army veteran chooses a booth with a clear view of who is coming and going. His mother, Amy Overton, says her son is ‘more leery’ since his two tours of duty – one in Iraq, one in Afghanistan – than when he enlisted after graduating from Sycamore High School in 2002. But as Matthew prepares to return to Iraq in February, his mother’s biggest concern is his frame of mind. … Matthew Overton doesn’t want to be misunderstood. He loves his country, he said, and enjoyed his time in the Army, considering he was stationed in war zones. But his contract ended almost four years ago, his last tour ended two years ago, and he has been rated as 40 percent disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs. His time in Iraq and Afghanistan left him with severe hearing loss, a mild brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, he said. He just wants to finish college and get on with his life. ‘I signed a three-year contract and ended up doing four and a half,’ Overton said. ‘The fine print says you have an eight-year obligation no matter what the contract says, and I understand that. I completely understand my obligation to the Army. What upsets me is I’m VA-rated 40 percent disabled. I don’t believe the Army needs to be sending back injured soldiers.’"

9.      Computerized Records Said To Be No Cure-All For US Healthcare.   Forbes‘ Lee Gomes (1/4) reports, "Whenever President-elect Obama is asked how he’ll pay for his ambitious health care reform plans, he invariably talks about the $80 billion in annual savings he’ll get from bringing computerized recordkeeping to doctors’ offices and hospitals. If only that were true. While there are benefits that might be had from using computers more widely in medicine, doing so won’t save us any money and, in fact, will likely make things more expensive. There’s even a chance that the quality of care might get worse along the way. … The heart of the problem is the U.S. fee-for-service system, in which doctors get paid to do things to people. The more technical and invasive the procedure, the more money they make. Doctors have responded in the expected Pavlovian manner, collectively shifting away from basic primary care toward expensive specializations that run up costs without necessarily improving medical outcomes. As any chief information officer can tell you, adding computers to this sort of inefficient process only makes the inefficiency happen more quickly." Forbes adds, "It’s true that some well-regarded health systems, like the Veterans Health Administration, rely on electronic medical records. But doctors in these systems all practice medicine the same way and have huge IT staffs to keep everything humming."

10.    VA Hospitals Say New Protocols Have Resulted In Fewer MRSA Infections.   On its website, KCUR-FM Kansas City, MO (1/4, Gordon) reported the Veterans Affairs medical center in Wichita "says it’s cut contagious staph," or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), "infections in half since March of 2007," when the facility "launched new MRSA prevention protocols." Similar protocols "have been implemented" in veterans hospitals "across the country as part of a national VA initiative to curb MRSA infections." The VA medical center "in Kansas City says it’s also seen a decrease in MRSA infections since adopting the new measures."