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Bozeman VA Clinic to Treat Post-Traumatic Stress With Virtual Reality System Donated by Nonprofit SoldierStrong

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The Bozeman VA Clinic is the country’s latest Department of Veterans Affairs facility to partner with national nonprofit SoldierStrong to provide a groundbreaking virtual reality system known as BraveMind to aid in treating veterans experiencing post-traumatic stress.

SoldierStrong, a Stamford, Conn. organization, is dedicated to helping veterans take their next steps forward by connecting them with revolutionary medical technologies donated to VA medical centers and other facilities, has donated the BraveMind system to the Bozeman VA Clinic in an effort to combat the national daily average of 20 veteran suicides.

Since SoldierStrong’s inception following the tragic events of 9/11, the organization has donated more than $4.2 million of medical devices to help injured veterans. This donation is the 15th BraveMind system donated to a VA hospital since late 2019.

Co-founder and chairman Chris Meek said SoldierStrong’s goal to make medical devices, including the BraveMind system, available in as many states as possible was a significant factor in the donation. This is the first BraveMind virtual reality system in the state, making its treatment accessible to Montana’s veterans for the first time.

“We know that veterans experiencing PTS often find it both difficult and especially painful to summon specific memories from their time in service. BraveMind is designed to make the process of recalling those memories significantly easier for them,” Meek said. “The BraveMind system delivers prolonged exposure therapy, which is the practice of recalling a traumatic memory while working through that memory with a trained clinician. It’s a clinically effective, evidence-based method for treating PTS.”

He continued, “With virtual reality’s rising popularity in non-medical settings, such as video games, entertainment and even the workplace, there’s convincing evidence that younger veterans will seek PTS treatment using VR techniques who otherwise may not be inclined to participate in traditional therapy practices.”

The virtual reality technology behind BraveMind was developed by Dr. Albert “Skip” Rizzo and his team at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies.

The technology creates 14 “worlds” of combat scenarios, from a desert roadway to a crowded Iraqi marketplace or a slum in an Afghan city. Therapists select a world based on a Veteran’s traumatic experience and customize it in the virtual reality headset, thus placing Veterans back within the midst of that memory at a pace they can handle.

“Utilizing the virtual reality technology in BraveMind gets Veterans to talk about things they’ve never talked to anyone about before,” Rizzo said. “Those memories don’t have the same emotional power that they did before because repeatedly experiencing those troubling memories in a safe environment reduces the brain’s response to them. Patients start to feel empowered, to feel that they got it out and that they can talk about it.”

The program’s efficacy stems from clinicians’ ability to customize and control the content presented in the headset so precisely from sights, sounds, smells, vibrations ‒ even the weight and tactile sensation of holding a weapon ‒ that can create a patient experience mirroring the traumatic memory.

“I’m very pleased that the Bozeman VA Clinic is committed to the VA’s tradition of excellence by providing more of our nation’s heroes access to BraveMind’s innovative technology for the very first time,” Meek said. “Not only will BraveMind help to reach more of the VA’s younger patients, but it will provide expanded access and greater choice in PTS treatment to all of Montana’s Veterans.”

VA New Orleans Receives Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Exoskeleton From National Nonprofit SoldierStrong

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VA New Orleans Receives Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Exoskeleton From National Nonprofit SoldierStrongSince SoldierStrong’s inception following the tragic events of 9/11, the Stamford, Conn.-based group has donated more than $3 million of medical devices to help injured Veterans. Today’s donation is the organization’s 24th exoskeleton donation, including the 20th one to the VA system. Currently, 35,000 Veterans have access to exoskeleton rehabilitation devices.

“VA has an established tradition of using the most advanced technologies to provide cutting-edge rehabilitation care to Veterans,” said Medical Center Director Fernando Rivera. “SoldierStrong’s donation of this cutting-edge device will help us continue to maximize the independence and improve the quality of life of the Veterans that we treat.”

SoldierStrong co-founder and chairman Chris Meek said the organization’s goal to make exoskeleton suits available to every Veteran in need throughout as many states as possible was a significant factor in the local donation. This is the second exoskeleton donated by SoldierStrong in the state, allowing for use of the device to become more accessible for a wider array of Louisiana’s Veterans.

“Many Veterans who sustain spinal injuries are young men and women, which means individuals often must navigate through decades of health-related challenges when these devastating injuries occur,” Meek said. “Early rehabilitation therapy with an exoskeleton has shown to have lasting positive effects on both the physical and often overlooked mental health recovery for patients who use them. That is why we feel it is so important that exoskeleton devices are made accessible to as many Veterans as possible — young and older — at the onset of their journey of recovery, in order to positively shape and impact mobility in the decades ahead. We are honored to work with the New Orleans VA Medical Center in making our goal a reality.”

 

Military Families: The Power of Maintaining Balance and Creating New Traditions During the Holiday Season

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Military Families: The Power of Maintaining Balance and Creating New Traditions During the Holiday Season

By Chris Meek

For many, the holiday season is synonymous with laughter, cheer and good tidings, large celebrations and social obligations with family and friends. But for some service members, veterans and their family members, extra anxiety prompted by the holidays’ social activities can escalate stress and sink them into depression and thoughts of suicide as they cope with the effects of a debilitating physical injury or post-traumatic stress (PTS).

Only recently has the focus shifted to the experiences and challenges of military dependents, who make their own, unique sacrifices when a parent or parents serve. For Isabella Taft, holidays while her father, Ward, was on active duty sometimes meant navigating his reintegration into the family dynamic when he returned home from long deployments. Her mother, Amy, acknowledged that process was “one of the toughest aspects of military life.”

“You do eventually get over the initial shock of your loved one leaving, and learn to make your own individual patterns and habits,” Amy said. “Around this time of year, you just keep rolling because you’re not going to let an entire holiday be ruined because they aren’t there. But you question, do you involve them in the holiday plans, just in case, or not? Will they be there or not? How do you create normalcy and routine with that revolving door?”

Holidays became even more challenging after Ward received multiple blast injuries, including a moderate brain injury. With a severely damaged frontal lobe, the U.S. Navy corpsman, who spent the majority of his career serving with Marine units, experienced severe mood swings, suffered short-term memory loss that made it impossible for him to drive, and lost fine motor skills that left him unable to tie his own shoes.

Pre-injury, the Taft family might travel up to 10 hours by car to visit with friends and family, often in large gatherings and unfamiliar settings. Post-injury, family and friends had to come to terms with their decision to no longer travel because travel sparked Ward’s migraines and overstimulated brain activity while the stress of the unfamiliar settings could exacerbate his PTS.

With time, Isabella and Amy found several ways to navigate the stress of the holidays while prioritizing Ward’s recovery and specific needs. Setting boundaries was an important step in creating holiday plans that fit the Tafts’ needs. The process required them to pinpoint specific difficulties tied to family gatherings and identify the steps to overcome them.

Gently explaining to family and friends what was required of them was imperative. If they wanted to see the Tafts for Christmas, they’d need to make the commitment to come to the Taft home. Ward would be involved as much as possible in holiday activities but there inevitably would be times when he would need to separate from the group.

“That meant the family would need to accept that this didn’t mean that something was wrong. It didn’t mean that everyone else needed to stop what they were doing,” Amy said. “They just needed to respect that Ward needed space.”

These conversations created structured holidays that, though different, created a level of control that was beneficial to the entire family, but especially for Ward. For Isabella, opening up to friends was another step.

“Growing up I never wanted to have friends over, I didn’t want holidays or birthday parties, sleepovers or movie nights because I didn’t know how my dad would react. The last thing I wanted was for my dad to walk out and scream at me. You don’t want to be seen as different from your peers,” Isabella said.

Over the years, she has recognized how powerful it was to share with friends about her father’s brain injury and how it has affected her family. She has been touched by their understanding and offers of support. According to Isabella, a result of that honesty was a “house filled with laughter again after 10 years,” a feeling which she described as “awesome.”

Maintaining balance and creating new traditions also proved invaluable.

While growing up, Isabella recognized that her younger sister, Clara, needed to continue to experience traditions of old while simultaneously making new traditions. In order to keep the old traditions, Isabella ensured that things normally done with the whole family were now shared between the two sisters, as Amy’s attention was understandably turned toward taking care of Ward during his recovery from injuries that also included broken bones and nerve damage. Isabella and Clara also took responsibility for picking up Christmas presents for Amy, as Ward’s memory loss made it likely that he might forget.

Traditions that otherwise could have fallen by the wayside during a time of great stress instead gave way to new, special traditions or a blend of new and old. Such adaptability kept the spirit of the holiday alive for the sisters while allowing them to adjust to their family’s specific circumstances. What could have been a reason to abandon tradition altogether became a reason to create new ones while cherishing the old.

At SoldierStrong, a significant component of our mission is not only to provide revolutionary medical technology, such as virtual reality hardware and software, to aid in the treatment of PTS and improve overall mental health, but to also provide individuals, including veterans, active duty service members and their families, with resources and information to maintain and foster their wellbeing. It is our hope that the insight provided by Amy and Isabella Taft may help other dependents and family members of veterans navigate this holiday season, especially during a time when so much of the world and our day-to-day lives look so different.

National Veterans Nonprofit SoldierStrong Announces 2020 SoldierScholar Recipients

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Delivering on its commitment to assist soldiers taking a significant academic step into their future by filling in voids left by the Post-9/11 GI Bill, the national nonprofit SoldierStrong announced the 2020 recipients of its scholarship initiative, SoldierScholar, today.

“SoldierStrong realized early on that higher education provides a crucial set of opportunities for veterans as they return home from service and begin to transition, and ultimately adjust, to civilian life,” said SoldierStrong co-founder and chairman Chris Meek. “Our organization and supporters recognize the value of the unique interaction that occurs between higher education institutions and veterans. Not only do veterans benefit greatly from higher education, but they serve as major assets to the schools they attend by bringing with them unparalleled experiences and leadership characteristics from their time in service.”

Meek continued, “Though the GI Bill has benefitted almost one million veterans in the past year, it has not historically relieved all of the costs associated with obtaining a degree. Textbooks, classroom fees, transportation, technology, tutoring and a number of other additional expenses that come with obtaining a degree are often not considered upfront when developing a general financial plan. SoldierScholar was created to fill in those gaps left by the bill and alleviate the additional costs associated with receiving a degree. It is an honor to support and assist soldiers in their academic endeavors.”

SoldierScholar scholarships are available to veterans who fought in the recent War on Terror. SoldierStrong, which primarily provides revolutionary medical technologies to Veterans Affairs medical centers across the country to help injured veterans lead full lives, launched SoldierScholar in 2012 and has since awarded more than $500,000. This year’s recipients include:

Lucas Netti, Public Administration, Syracuse University
Lucas Netti served in the U.S. Army with the 82nd Airborne Division as an infantryman and sniper team leader. This past August, Netti graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor of arts in political science and is expected to graduate from the university with a master’s degree in public administration and a certificate of advanced studies in security studies in August 2021. Upon graduation Netti plans on pursuing a career in government in the national security sector. “Getting the SoldierScholarship means a lot to me because it gives me an opportunity to represent Syracuse University and its veteran community. It is a good way of showing my academic achievements as a veteran and is a testament to the outstanding education that the professors here at Syracuse have provided me,” Netti said.

Kala Hagen, Foreign Service, Georgetown University
Kala Hagen served in the U.S. Navy for nine years as a cryptologic language analyst specializing in Arabic and Somali. While on active duty, Hagen earned a bachelor of arts in anthropology at the University of Florida and was selected for several prestigious language immersion programs, including Middlebury College’s summer language program in California. While receiving her master of science in foreign service at Georgetown University, Hagen will concentrate on international development in the Middle East and Africa and is especially interested in reducing factors that contribute to extremism and terrorism. Upon graduation, she aspires to serve with the State Department or U.S. Agency for International Development. “I feel incredibly honored and humbled to have been selected for a SoldierScholar scholarship,” Hagen said. “I really admire the work that SoldierStrong does to help veterans, so for them to choose to invest so significantly in my education means a great deal to me.”

Jessica Evans, Civil Engineer Technology, Old Dominion University
Jessica Evans served in the U.S. Navy as a sonar technician while stationed in Hawaii and various other places around the world. In part due to financial considerations, Evans did not go to college directly after high school, and instead was inspired to join the military branch in which both of her grandfathers served. Evans sees her service as a way to honor their legacy. After finishing her bachelor’s degree in engineering, Evans plans to pursue her master’s degree. “Growing up I never dreamed about going to college let alone going as far as pursuing my master’s degree. So to have this opportunity to reach for my dreams is really special,” Evans said.

To learn more about the SoldierScholar initiative or to donate, please visit https://www.soldierstrong.org/scholarship.