Veterans' Mental Health Services

VA taking steps to reduce suicides 09/06/08. The numbers are troubling - someone dies by suicide every 17 minutes, accounting for 30,000 deaths each year in the United States. In the veterans population, male veterans are twice as likely as civilians, both male and female, to commit suicide, according to a 2007 study by Portland State University and Oregon Health & Science University. The Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, which includes the Olin E. Teague Veterans’ Center, is launching a public education campaign in Central Texas as part of a national effort to reduce suicide. Temple Daily Telegram

Telehealth: Video Technology Spares Vets Lengthy Car Trips for Mental Health Care 09/06/08. Approximately 495 Chicago-area veterans are using Veterans Health Administration outpatient clinics to receive mental health care through video technology, according to the Chicago Tribune. The "telemental health service" allows mental health specialists at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood, Ill., to remotely consult with patients at six community-based outpatient clinics. Veterans are accessing the service for help with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicidal thoughts, without making a long car trip that could evoke memories of dangerous roads in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2007, 24,000 veterans used telemental health services in the United States, and 2008 projections indicate that up to 40,000 veterans may seek this treatment. redOrbit

Veterans' Suicide Hotline Assists 55000 Callers 09/06/08. The Veterans Suicide Prevention Hotline, a collaborative effort by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, received about 55,000 calls in its first year of operation. Of those, 22,000 came directly from veterans and the rest from family or friends seeking help for veterans. Nurse.com

Southern Arizona Veterans Mental Health Discussion 09/06/08. TUCSON — U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today is hosting a two-hour meeting to discuss improving and expanding mental health services for veterans. The meeting is from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will be held at the Palo Brea Room at the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, 2502 N. Dodge in Tucson. A video conference also will be set up with the partnership’s Sierra Vista office, 999 E. Fry Blvd., Suite 109. Giffords, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, will be joined at the event by U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud of Maine, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Health Subcommittee. Sierra Vista Herold