Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), with Vulcan Productions, is distributing more than 200,000 handbooks and videos to military families and friends around the country about how to cope with the challenges of all phases of deployment. The newly released toolkit, “A Handbook for Family and Friends of Service Members—Before, During and After Deployment,” was developed by a team of medical, mental health and military family experts.
“This handbook meets a great need, especially for the parents of young men and women in military service for whom there is little support currently available,” said Interim Director of DCoE Michael E. Kilpatrick, M.D. “We are hopeful that other federal agencies and private sector organizations will step-up and help ensure we can get this valuable resource in the hands of every family affected by a deployment.”
This unique resource includes information specifically designed to help families and friends:
- Become aware of the stressors and feelings they may encounter throughout deployment
- Develop skills to become more resilient despite these stressors and feelings
- Improve their overall quality of life and satisfaction
- Identify outside resources that may be useful to them throughout the deployment cycle
The toolkit is an extension of the award-winning PBS documentary “This Emotional life,” a multi-platform project produced by Vulcan Productions and NOVA/WGBH Science Unit, which explores the science behind the quest for happiness and the importance of social relationships to overcome life’s challenges. DCoE, along with the help of the Real Warriors Campaign and Military OneSource, is distributing the first 198,000 toolkits to families and friends of the military community.
For more information, read the full release.
Can you or someone you know benefit from this toolkit? Please visit the Real Warriors Campaign at www.realwarriors.net/materials/order to get a copy today.