Healing Campaign for Veterans
Healing Veterans is a mobile, interactive series that seeks to empower veterans and their families as they recovery from TBI, Amputee and Burn related injuries. Help empower wounded soldiers or armed forces in their recovery process. “Healing Veterans” video series (head trauma, burn injuries, loss of limbs, and torso wounds) includes 54 videos, 18 in each injury category, that appeal to veterans’ military training and mindset while providing practical objectives and recovery milestones. Videos will include health information, testimonials from recovering veterans and family members, encouragement from military leaders, and milestones in recovery.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AND PTSD
Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan primary causes of TBI are from blasts, blast plus motor vehicle accidents (MVA’s), MVA’s alone, and gunshot wounds (Summerall, 2017). Blast exposure produces different TBI symptoms then falls or MVA’s. Veterans seem to experience the post-concussive symptoms for longer than the civilian population; some studies show most will still have residual symptoms 18-24 months after the injury (Summerall, 2017). In addition, many Veterans have multiple medical problems. The comorbidity of PTSD, history of mild TBI, chronic pain and substance abuse is common and may complicate recovery from any single diagnosis. Given these special considerations, it is especially important to reassure Veterans that their symptoms are time-limited and, with appropriate treatment and healthy behaviors, likely to improve.
AMPUTEE RECOVERY
The needs of the service members and veterans vary by level of limb loss, severity of other injuries and comorbidities, stage of rehabilitation, need for financial support, benefits, and many other factors including pain, phantom limb sensations, and psychiatric problems. In addition, technological advances in upper-limb prosthetics have “lagged behind” those made in lower-limb prosthetics due to the complexity of replacing an upper limb and re-establishing its many functions. Those with upper-limb amputations abandon their prostheses more often than those with lower-limb amputations because they are unhappy with their devices, (Resnik, 2017).
BURN RECOVERY
Burn rehabilitation is an undeniably difficult and time consuming effort that, to attain the objective of optimal long-term function, must begin at the outset of burn care. Treatment goals and strategies vary, depending on the patient’s injury, stage of treatment, age, and comorbidities. Goals range from minimizing loss of range of motion (ROM) in the critically ill patient to establishing a work-hardening program in recovered patients (Sheridan, 2016).
Survival was once the only gauge of success in managing serious burn cases. Today, however, the overriding objective of burn care has become reintegration of the patient into the home and community. This goal has extended the traditional role of the burn care team beyond acute wound closure. Burn rehabilitation is undeniably difficult and time consuming, but the time spent on outlining short-term and long-term treatment goals and modalities is worthwhile.
