By Katie Krahulik
Staff writer
The participants of the Veterans Health Summit held on March 6, are determined to alleviate the invisible wounds of our country’s veterans. The event, orchestrated in Hofstra’s Axinn Library in conjunction with National Public Health Week, featured a panel of experts who have studied various dilemmas which prevent disabled veterans from obtaining medical support or benefits.
The topics of discussion included health care issues, suicide and self-harm in service members and veterans, as well as a case study on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from several perspectives.
“There are 22 million veterans in the country – with the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are over 2.5 million veterans – and it’s estimated that about 1/3 of all those veterans may have some invisible wound from war such as depression, PTSD, anxiety or some other type of condition,” Dr. Mayer Bellehsen, one of the experts, said. Bellehsen is the director of the Northwell Health Mildred and Frank Feinberg Division of the Unified Behavioral Health Center for Military Veterans and Their Families.
During his presentation, he talked about the general impact of PTSD on veterans’ families and loved ones, emphasizing the fact that mental health may affect more than just the immediate victim.
“My program is one example of a solution which collocates with the VA to coordinate care for the family in tandem with the VA providing care to the veteran,” Dr. Bellehsen said.
This program offers behavioral health services, counseling, therapy and medication for those in need. “The other community providers should be doing the same thing as well,” Dr. Bellehsen said. “In general, it’s important to increase education about the potential challenges to the family, as well as raise awareness and develop resources in the community that are tailored to meet the needs of family members to help these families cope better.”
Several law students, including graduate students Christine Isaacs and Mandy Weiner, attended the session, as it highlighted many of the legal conflicts that the system poses for veterans in need of assistance. “Veterans are important to the community and to me. They have done a lot for this country and it’s important to thank them,” Issacs said. “There is room for each one of us to help, whether it’s by being on the front line or by raising awareness.”
Weiner experienced some of the tribulations that veterans face first hand. “My dad’s on full disability so he gets everything for free, but he’s had friends that aren’t on full disability who have been in the Vietnam War,” she said. “They had to fight to get coverage for certain things. I think it’s important that they get what they’re due because they fought for our country, so they deserve it.”
Wednesday’s event was planned by Melissa Kessler, the associate director of the Gitenstein Institute for Health Law and Policy at Hofstra. Kessler hopes that Hofstra University can serve as a central resource for local veterans to come and receive services.
“We are working on a larger project called Mission Critical. The goal is to unite Hofstra as a cadet-friendly campus where we can provide one-stop shopping for resources for vets and also invite community based organizations to hopefully have a second home here so that veterans can access services in a more robust and concrete way,” Kessler said.
“What we found in Nassau County and Suffolk County is that services for veterans are very fragmented, so the veteran will have go here for one thing, there for another thing and then out to the VA for medical care,” she said.
Kessler believes that Hofstra can offer a solution. “My hope is that people will see Hofstra as a resource that can be accessed and utilized and that it’s not just a place where students come and learn,” she said. “Veterans can come here and receive services too. So it’s a mutual place where community based organizations will also recognize us as a partner and not as a competitor for providing services to veterans.”