NEWTON, MA | October 3, 2011
EDC will develop a range of educational and communication materials to address posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries under a five-year contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Center for PTSD. The new materials will build on EDC’s body of work supporting mental health prevention with veterans and their families and its nationally recognized suicide prevention resources and training.
Specifically, EDC and its collaborators will develop face‐to‐face trainings, Web‐based training courses and materials, informational and instructional videos and other media presentations, interactive toolkits and written materials, and promotional and communications campaigns designed to assist veterans and their families.
An estimated 40 percent of veterans are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with a mental health diagnosis. It has been estimated that between 12 and 20 percent, or more than 300,000 personnel, are suffering from PTSD and/or depression symptoms, with a similar number suffering traumatic brain injuries. The Army is also experiencing the highest rate of suicide in the last 26 years.
“EDC has been working with military and community collaborators to heal these invisible wounds of war,” said EDC Senior Project Director Rebecca Stoeckle. “With this award, we will continue building the capacity of clinicians in veterans’ health systems to provide effective treatment, while extending our strong institutional commitment to military families.”
To learn more about EDC’s work with veterans, visit http://go.edc.org/military-health.
Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC), is a global nonprofit organization that develops, delivers, and evaluates innovative programs to solve some of the world’s most urgent challenges in education, health, and economic development. EDC conducts more than 350 projects in 35 countries. Visit www.edc.org.
