Where can you find the latest deployment health information? The Department of Defense Deployment Health Clinical Center Web site, www.pdhealth.mil, offers important information and resources for clinicians, service members and their families.

Some of the topics featured on the home page include:
 

• Deployment cycle support
• Post-deployment health guidelines
• Emerging health concerns
• News and announcements
• Library
• Education and training

To learn more about how you can impact service member deployment health, click on the “Clinician” tab to view “Assessment Tools.” There, you can access topics like post-deployment, patient health and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Additionally, you will find information on how to screen your patients for conditions such as depression, anxiety, panic and alcohol abuse.

There is a 36-question survey that can be scored and completed online, which assesses patients’ mental and physical state by inquiring about any problems they may have experienced during the last month.

According to Col. Elspeth C. Ritchie, MD, MPH, director, Proponency Office for Behavioral Health U.S.Army Medical Command, most service members will experience a readjustment period upon returning home. It is not uncommon for them
to experience symptoms of PTSD or other mental illness, particularly if they were involved in combat. As a result,
some service members will require short- or long-term counseling during their readjustment period.

Early intervention may be the key to preventing PTSD. Therefore, it is imperative for providers to recognize any behavioral health symptoms initially so active duty service members (ADSMs) can make a successful transition and have a healthy outcome. The ultimate goal is to ensure that every deployed and returning ADSM receives the health care he or she needs.

For more information, please visit www.pdhealth.mil.

  
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Created: July 9, 2007