Educational Initiatives Within the VA

A central task of the National Center is to partner with other VA organizations and colleagues, applying traumatic stress expertise to improve the effectiveness of VA services.

COLLAGE Traumatic Stress and Readjustment

The Traumatic Stress and Readjustment COLLAGE website was designed, developed, and launched as a service to everyone in VHA who serves veterans with PTSD and readjustment problems. Available on VA's intranet, the site allows VHA providers to talk to colleagues about any trauma or readjustment-related topic or clinical issue of concern or interest. The site is also intended as a convenient repository of clinician-relevant patient education materials, reports, articles, training events, conferences, and more. (vaww.collage.research. med.va.gov/collage/E_behav/)

Compensation & Pension Exams

During FY 2006 staff at the Education Division collaborated with a team from the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) and the VHA to develop a web-based program to train clinicians for the initial PTSD Compensation & Pension Examination (CPEP). This effort resulted in the creation of a training video that will be incorporated into the CPEP Performance Support System.

MyHealtheVet

The VA Healthcare System is developing the mental health components of MyHealtheVet, an electronic portal for health care patients. National Center staff members were actively involved in this effort, and are assisting VA in developing online, interactive systems for veterans, their families, and their health care providers. The systems will provide a number of capabilities: access to PTSD and readjustment-related educational information, self-screening for traumatic stress reactions and other health problems, and tools to monitor symptom improvement and treatment progress, and set treatment goals.