Research Deployment & Substance Abuse-VA to Award $6 million to Study Link Between the Two
The Department of Veterans Affairs is partnering with the National Institutes of Health to award $6 million in grants for research examining the link between substance abuse, military deployments and combat-related trauma.
Several studies will look at treatment seeking patterns — why and when veterans ask for help, and why many don’t.
Scientists will also explore treatment strategies, including:
cognitive behavioral therapy
Researchers will also determine if early intervention can improve outcomes.
Other projects will focus on how Soldiers readjust to their work and families after returning from war.
“VA has a commitment to meet the full range of our Veterans’ physical and mental health care needs, and that includes addressing substance abuse,” said Dr. Joel Kupersmith, VA’s chief research and development officer. “This coordinated research effort is one more way we are turning that commitment into action.”
NIH agencies taking part in the initiative are the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the National Cancer Institute.
Institutions receiving the grants include:
• Brandeis University
• Dartmouth College
• The Medical University of South Carolina
• The National Development and Research Institutes in New York City
• The University of California, San Francisco
• The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• The University of Missouri in Columbia
• The VA medical centers in West Haven, Conn., Philadelphia, Little Rock, Ark.,and Seattle.
SOURCE:
Department of Veterans Affairs. VA to Award $6 million to Research Deployment-Substance Abuse link. Army News Service, Aug. 26, 2010. Available at: http://www.army.mil/-news/2010/08/26/44288-va-to-award-6-million-to-research-deployment-substance-abuse-link/ [Accessed 04 Sept 2010].
