The Lilly Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly and Co., announced Monday it is contributing $1 million to Give an Hour and the American Psychiatric Foundation to help connect mental health professionals with veterans and their families.
Psychiatrists, psychologists and other counselors volunteer a minimum of an hour a week for a year to help bridge the gap in mental health services provided to veterans.
"Recent studies indicate that our military community is facing an emerging mental health crisis," said Barbara Romberg, a psychologist who founded Give an Hour in 2005.
A study by the RAND Corporation estimates about 300,000 soldiers who had been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression and 320,000 reported experiencing probable traumatic brain injury during deployment.
The study also found that only 53% of service members with PTSD or depression had seen a physician or mental health care provider in the past year.
Give an Hour and the American Psychiatric Foundation will be using the $1 million for recruitment and training, to raise public awareness of the program and to increase outreach to the military community, according to Romberg and Eli Lilly.
Counselors wanting to volunteer their services or veterans seeking help can go to giveanhour.org.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2008-05-19-veteran-health_N.htm