SPECIAL VA Posting for PTSD Awareness Day PTSD Monthly Update: Advancing Science and Promoting Understanding of Traumatic Stress
	News relevant to the issues of trauma and PTSD

 

Last year Congress designated June 27th PTSD Awareness Day. Because of this, the National Center for PTSD is sending you this special VA-specific update, in addition to the regular PTSD Monthly Update. Please feel free to forward this to your VA colleagues and help us increase PTSD awareness.

Stay connected with the PTSD Monthly Update

Please encourage your colleagues and others to subscribe to the PTSD Monthly Update!

There are only a few days left before PTSD Awareness Day. Help us reach our goal of 10,000 subscribers. We would like to reach all of our 7,000 VA clinicians.  

 

Things VA staff can do to help increase PTSD awareness

• ·         Set up a PTSD Awareness Day Booth at your facility on June 27^th.
• ·         Print educational materials from the site to hand out.
• ·         Post a PTSD Awareness Day flyer (PDF) in a common area, where it can be seen.

• Add a link to www.ptsd.va.gov or a PTSD Information Badge (see below) onto your Website or Facebook page.

 

To Assist You with Your Job

VAWW.PTSD.VA.GOV VA’s National Center for PTSD provides a wealth of resources for professionals on the Website, available to both VA and non VA persons. But do you know about the PTSD intranet site?

Materials created specifically for VA staff, or items that can only be made available to VA staff, are found on the PTSD intranet site, behind the VA firewall. Included are:

• PDFs of assessment instruments created by the NCPTSD,
• an online course to learn how to administer the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), and
• a new course on Caring for Women Veterans who have experienced trauma.

 

From vaww.ptsd.va.gov we link to every other VA resource on trauma and PTSD that we can find.

• ·         Under Provider Education, find links to relevant courses in the LMS/TMS system and other training opportunities.
• ·         Under Treatment Resources,
• o   Connect to the Sharepoint sites of the evidence-based practices sites for CPT and PE, Military Sexual Trauma, and more.
• o    Find information on what VA PTSD Treatment is available at VA facilities across the country, including the VA PTSD Program Locator
• that can help you locate residential and outpatient specialty PTSD programs across the country.

 

Coming Soon to the Intranet

Many new products are being developed over the next year for VA and other providers. Sign up for our PTSD Monthly Update to learn about the launch of initiatives such as the:

• ·         Knowledge Repository: The PTSD intranet site is expanding to include a dynamic search feature that will provide links to all of the tools a clinician or other provider could need.
• ·         VA Primary Care Toolkit: Primary care staff are often the first to see patients presenting with PTSD. This toolkit is designed to meet the needs of this VA provider population.

Call the VA PTSD Consultation Program

VA staff can now call for assistance in dealing with trauma and PTSD. Launched earlier this year, the PTSD Consultation Program provides easy to schedule phone consults to facilitate working with Veterans with PTSD. Therapy and medication consults are available. Learn more or share this PTSD Consultation Program flyer (PDF) with interested VA staff.

 

 

Specifically for VA Providers and Staff Page

To simplify the online world, a new page has been added to the Website: a page specifically for VA staff and providers. This links to the intranet making all information available from www.PTSD.va.gov.  

 

Help Veterans and Families Find PTSD Information

A PTSD Information Badge is now available for VA Medical Centers (and other programs!) to post on their site, from the badge library - http://vaww1.va.gov/webcom/badges.asp. Tell the Public Affairs/Website person at your facility.

 

Educational information from the Veteran and General Public section of the site are useful as handouts for Veterans and families. Be sure to see:

• ·         Understanding PTSD
• ·         Understanding PTSD Treatment
• ·         Returning from the War Zone Guides

 

Keep your Veterans and their Families Informed

There are many ways to encourage those you serve to stay informed about trauma and PTSD.

·         Sign up to receive a PTSD Monthly Update in their email ·         On the VHA site, people can Subscribe to Receive VHA Email Updates on PTSD ·         PTSD Coach mobile app (many others coming soon, including apps to assist with providing evidence-based PTSD treatment) ·         Connect with Us

 

Thank you all for everything you do for our Veterans and their families.

Sincerely,

The Staff of the National Center for PTSD

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