WASHINGTON, DC—The White House recently introduced a government-wide effort to support military families outlined in its report, Strengthening Our Military Families.

WASHINGTON, DC—VHA and DoD have already recognized that they serve the same patients, just at different times during their lives. But it is only during the last few years that the two departments have thought of themselves as a true continuum of care, at least as far as mental health care is concerned, and have endeavored to ease the transition for patients from one system to the other.

WASHINGTON, DC—Building resilience in servicemembers must start when they enter basic training and must include their families, said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm Michael Mullen.

Has the health of servicemembers exposed to burn pit operations in theater been compromised? It is an issue of concern as servicemembers have attributed respiratory and eye symptoms to burn pit smoke.

WASHINGTON, DC—Some individuals in distress may be more comfortable sharing their struggles with a peer than with a mental health counselor. Formalized peer-to-peer support programs seek to capitalize on that by training peer supporters to provide guidance and resource links to fellow colleagues who are struggling.

WASHINGTON, DC—DoD officials are developing new psychological health initiatives that they hope will fill gaps in delivering and coordinating psychological care.

WASHINGTON, DC—Mind-body skills offer a way for individuals to self-regulate stress and can often be done in various settings.

WASHINGTON, DC— The Army Medical Communications for Combat Casualty Care (MC4) electronic medical record systems are being upgraded to help providers better document mild TBI patient data in theater.

WASHINGTON, DC—Asking servicemembers and veteran patients about sleep can serve as a segue to conversations about other post-deployment issues that these patients might be experiencing, said Paula Domenici, PhD.

WASHINGTON, DC—Preventing the spread of infection from multidrug resistant organisms (MDROs) is a battle being fought, not just in civilian healthcare settings worldwide, but in the military healthcare system as well.