Newswise — Bethesda, Md -- The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences has just published a new book, Disaster, Disease and Distress: Resources to Promote Psychological Health and Resilience in Military and Civilian Communities. The book is a compilation of fact sheets and educational resources developed by the Center over a ten-year period that address important health and mental health issues of service members and their families impacted by deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. The resources are geared towards communities around the globe affected by natural and human-made disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes and incidents of community violence. Center experts in the fields of military and disaster psychiatry developed the fact sheets in Disaster, Disease and Distress, many in the immediate aftermath of specific incidents, to educate military and civilian healthcare professionals, service members and families, government leaders at the federal, state and local level, and stakeholders in family and child trauma, workplace mental health, public health, human services and academia about planning for, responding to and recovering from traumatic events. Many of these fact sheets address health and mental health issues related to the risks of suicide.
Disaster, Disease and Distress features four sections. Section 1, Caring for our Nation’s Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines: The Role of Medical and Social Service Providers, addresses deployment health issues including the impact of combat injury and behavioral health issues unique to the military community. Section 2, Military Family Health, is for service members and families. Section 3, Disaster Preparedness and Response, encompasses responder self-care, disaster leadership and disaster care. Section 4, Special Populations, provides information for teachers, Guard and Reserve, law enforcement, workplace mental health professionals and others.
The Center’s director, Robert J. Ursano, M.D., explains that, “Because many of the signature wounds of war – visible and invisible – persist and will affect individuals and families over time, and because natural disasters and public health threats endure, we believe these fact sheets will be useful and valuable to many audiences in the public and private sector for many years to come.”
Disaster, Disease and Distress is available for download from the Center’s website at www.cstsonline.org.
* * *About USUThe Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences is the United States’ federal health sciences university. USU students are primarily active duty uniformed officers in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Public Health Service who have received specialized education in tropical and infectious diseases, preventive medicine, the neurosciences (to include TBI and PTSD), disaster response and humanitarian assistance, and acute trauma care. A large percentage of the university’s nearly 5,000 physician and 600 advanced practice nursing alumni are supporting operations in Afghanistan, Africa and elsewhere, offering their leadership and expertise. The University also has graduate programs in oral biology, biomedical sciences and public health, most open to civilian and military applicants, committed to excellence in research which have awarded more than 375 doctoral and 800 masters degrees to date. For more information about USU and its programs, visit www.usuhs.edu.
About CSTS
The Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) was established in 1987 at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences to address Department of Defense concerns around the psychological impact and health consequences resulting from the impact of traumatic events, to include combat, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism, and natural disasters. For more information, visit www.cstsonline.org.