News Release

Monday, December 7, 2009

News Advisory: NIH, DoD and VA Hold Conference Examining Impact of Military Service on Families and Caregivers

The Second Annual Trauma Spectrum Disorders Conference: A Scientific Conference on the Impact of Military Service on Families and Caregivers will focus on the impact of trauma spectrum disorders on military and veteran families and caregivers across deployment, homecoming, and reintegration. The term, trauma spectrum disorders, refers to any injury or illness that occurs as a result of combat or an unexpected traumatic event, and covers a broad range of psychological health and traumatic brain injury issues.

The conference is presented by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health & Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other Federal Partners led by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), several NIH institutes and centers, and HHS agencies.

What: A Scientific Conference on the Impact of Military Service on Families and Caregivers

When: Thursday, December 10, 2009
7:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m. Registration
8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Conference

Where: Natcher Conference Center (Building 45), NIH campus, Bethesda, Maryland

The conference will examine the needs of families and caregivers in support of military and veterans with TSD, factors related to family functioning and reintegration, and effective approaches that facilitate treatment of trauma disorders and services to families and caregivers. In addition, the conference will focus on gender and health disparities.

Patricia K. Shinseki, wife of Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki, and a former board member of the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC), will give the keynote address at the conference. She will discuss MCEC's initiative called Living in the New Normal: Helping Children Thrive During Good and Challenging Times.

Participating NIH institutes, centers and offices include: The Office of Research on Women's Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Library of Medicine, and National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Visit:http://www.nih.gov/.

In addition, other HHS agencies and offices include: The Office of the Secretary, Administration for Children and Families and Administration on Aging; Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Health Resources and Services Administration; Indian Health Service; and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Visit: http://www.hhs.gov/.

For registration and agenda information, visit:http://www.dcoe.health.mil/Training/UpcomingConferences.aspx.

The Department of Veterans Affairs VA Research and Development program is able to foster the development of patient-centered evidence for clinical care decision-making and serves as a model for conducting superior bench-to-bedside research. Research advances and solutions are applied to patient care as rapidly as possible and benefits not only Veterans, but their family members and caregivers. For additional information about the VA Research Program, please visit www.research.va.gov.

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) mission is to assess, validate, oversee, and facilitate prevention, resilience, identification, treatment, outreach, rehabilitation, and reintegration programs for psychological health and traumatic brain injury to ensure the Department of Defense meets the needs of the nation's military communities, warriors and families. For more information on the DCoE, please visit http://dcoe.health.mil/.

The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH) serves as a focal point for women's health research at the NIH. For more information about NIH's Office of Research on Women's Health, visit: http://orwh.od.nih.gov/.

The Office of the Director, the central office at NIH, is responsible for setting policy for NIH, which includes 27 Institutes and Centers. This involves planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all NIH components. The Office of the Director also includes program offices which are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research throughout NIH. Additional information is available athttp://www.nih.gov/icd/od/.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health®

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