APA President Meets With First Lady to Reaffirm Commitment to Troops

APA President John Oldham, M.D., met with First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House on Wednesday along with leaders of several national health care organizations and the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration to reaffirm APA’s pledge of active participation in the Joining Forces program, which supports returning veterans and their families. The program was established by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden.

APA, which has been involved with the program for over a year, has played an important role in easing the transition for service members returning from combat and for their families who may find it difficult to readjust to having them home. APA and the American Psychiatric Foundation have also partnered with the nonprofit organization Give an Hour to enhance awareness of military mental health issues and provide countless hours of free office-based care to returning veterans and their families. In addition, APA has developed training courses for psychiatrists and mental health professionals to deal with unique issues facing veterans such as PTSD and TBI.

Psychiatric News has provided extensive coverage of issues related to the mental health needs of combat soldiers and returning veterans. For information about the Joining Forces program see Psychiatric News here.

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