Call to Action:  Real Warriors Campaign Encourages Warriors Families to Seek Help

July 16, 2009

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) kicked off a multimedia educational effort, called Real Warriors, to combat the stigma associated with seeking treatment or care for psychological health concerns and traumatic brain injury (TBI) on May 21, 2009. The Real Warriors Campaign promotes the processes of building resilience, facilitating recovery and supporting reintegration for returning service members and their families.

At the center of the campaign is the participation of real warriors, like Marine Corps Sgt. Josh Hopper, who are sharing their stories of seeking and receiving help while continuing to maintain successful military or civilian careers. By sharing their experiences, these warriors will encourage fellow service members to seek the support they need and deserve. Our warrior profi les are on the Real Warriors Campaign Web site at realwarriors.net/multimedia/profi les.php.

“Going to war is an experience that goes beyond what most humans can even imagine,” said Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, M.D., director of DCoE. “The Real Warriors Campaign is designed to help tear down stigma and make it easier for service members to reach out for the treatment they may need after deployment.”

In addition to the warrior profi les, the campaign Web site, www.realwarriors. net, includes targeted information for all of the services and other key audiences, which include active duty service members, National Guard and Reserve, veterans, military families and health care providers.

“Getting treatment is an act of courage and strength. With the Real Warriors Campaign, we hope to make it easier for warriors and their families to ask for and receive the care they need and deserve,” said Dr. Sonja V. Batten, DCoE deputy director.

To reach the broadest audience, the campaign uses a variety of communication and social networking tools, including radio and TV public service announcements, posters and flyers and a highly interactive Web site.

Since the kick-off at the end of May, the campaign has reached millions of people through the media, including interviews with Brig. Gen. Sutton on CNN, NBC’s “Today Show” and NPR’s “Here and Now.” You can download and watch Sutton’s CNN interview at http:// newsroom.blogs.cnn.com/2009/05/23/ real-warriors-campaign-military-combats- stigma-associated-with-ptsd/.

The positive media response to the campaign has been overwhelming, with 98 percent of coverage accurately reporting campaign messages, goals and facts. To date, it has not received any negative coverage.

In its first two weeks, the campaign Web site had nearly 80,000 page visits by more than 7,000 unique visitors, and the campaign has reached more than 500 people through social networking tools Twitter and Facebook.

On June 9, Military One Source’s Troop Tube resource named the campaign’s “From the Hearts of Heroes” video as one of their Videos of the Day.

The Web site is updated monthly, so visit www.realwarriors.net regularly for new articles, profiles and more. To view our campaign materials, including fact sheets, public service announcements and posters, visit http://www.realwarriors.net/materials.