USI plans military veteran workshop for future health practitioners

Local and national military experts are joining forces with faculty members from the University of Southern Indiana to teach future care providers about the challenges facing combat veterans and their families. The Veteran Interprofessional Team Workshop, planned for Tuesday, February 17, at USI, will give USI undergraduate and graduate students an introduction to military culture and make them aware of post-combat readjustment experiences and the often complex needs of veterans of all ages.

"Over the past 50 years, nearly 8 million United States military personnel have been deployed to wars in Vietnam, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan," said Dr. Vaughn DeCoster, associate professor of social work, who served in Iraq as a clinical social worker with the Army Reserves. "Including families and friends of these troops, the quantity of people affected by these wars is staggering. Given these numbers, area healthcare providers are likely treating this population or someone affected by their war experiences. We want to give our students pursuing careers in healthcare and social service areas an introduction to dealing with war-exacerbated issues, especially as these veterans age."

DeCoster said the transition from combat operations back to civilian life, whether recent or decades past, is challenging - perhaps more so than being in war itself. Health practitioners must remain sensitive to this, and work as a team to provide coordinated, quality care for these veterans and their families. For this reason, the USI workshop planned for students from the following disciplines: social work, occupational therapy, occupational therapy nursing, food and nutrition and dental hygiene.

The workshop will begin at 8:30 a.m. with the presentation of the colors by USI's ROTC color guard, under the direction of Major Christopher Dalrymple, assistant professor of military science at USI.                     

During the workshop, Tony Sanabria, a retired lieutenant colonel with more than 25 years of active duty service in the military, will share experiences from his tours in Germany, Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan and the issues many of his fellow veterans face after deployment.

Sanabria is an immigrant from Cuba who was raised in the Bronx, New York. He first joined the military in 1984 as an enlisted soldier. Following his discharge, he attended Indiana State University, was in ROTC, and then was commissioned into the Ordinance Corps.

Also speaking is Lieutenant Colonel Kevin M. Love of Rockport, Massachusetts, national chief of the Occupational Therapy Section of the Army Medical Specialist Corps. Love earned a bachelor's degree in occupational therapy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 and has worked in general psychiatric rehabilitation, forensic psychiatry and in physical rehabilitation, specializing in treatment of traumatic brain injury and cerebrovascular accident.

Since October 2011, he has been International Projects Coordinator for Spaulding Rehabilitation Network in Boston. His past programs included managing a specialized rehabilitation program for the Libyan Freedom Fighters at request of U.S. State Department. Currently, his focus is on developing rehabilitation services in the United Arab Emirates.

Love joined the military in March 2000, serving as Occupational Therapy Officer, Rear Detachment Commander, Restoration Platoon Leader, Executive Officer and Commander. He was deployed to Iraq during Operation New Dawn from June 2010 to August 2011.

Following these speakers, veterans and military family volunteers will describe different scenarios that may occur in interactions with post-combat veterans, involving issues related to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, divorce, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, attending college, homelessness or unemployment. The volunteers will be familiar with their assigned case vignette, but not personally involved, remaining objective and impartial. The students will then form "hands on" interprofessional teams to apply their new knowledge and resources to create a viable intervention plan for each of the scenarios.

"This activity is unique because it combines essential knowledge of the military, combat and post-war readjustment, along with evidence-based approaches and local resources," said DeCoster. "During this team activity, students will apply what they have learned and interact with care providers and actual representatives from the veteran patient population. This is a great opportunity for the student teams to learn assessment skills, identify key problems, develop a holistic intervention plan and problem solve possible care challenges."

At the end of the workshop, each team will provide a five-minute case presentation to the group and the panel of experts, including veterans and their family members, USI faculty and representatives from local agencies that serve veterans. The panel will evaluate each team's plans using a multidimensional scale and provide specific feedback.