U.S.
Special Operations Command’s Warrior Care Program-Care Coalition (WCP-CC) helps
injured Special Operations Forces and their families while they serve and after
they leave the military.
SOCOM medical
providers and WCP-CC, in cooperation with Home Base Military Outreach
Coordinators, formed a Special Operator Cohort Program in 2018 as another tool
to support service members’ brain health called the Comprehensive Brain Health
and Treatment program, or ComBHaT. The program builds treatment plans designed
for each member. These focus largely on traumatic brain injury (TBI) and
post-traumatic stress disorder, but also address interrelated health concerns
including sleep disturbances, substance abuse, reactions to stress,
hypervigilance and memory, among others.
ComBHaT’s
care options range from two days to a two-week intensive clinical program.
These services are offered in Boston at Home Base, a Red Sox Foundation and
Massachusetts General Hospital program. Many of their medical providers and
researchers who care for SOCOM’s members also work with New England’s
professional sports teams including the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins and
Revolution.
“I
attended ComBHaT’s four-day treatment program that looked into my prior TBI and
it has helped me immensely,” said a Navy operator with 26 years of service.
“What sets this program apart is the team of doctors that can share and discuss
the whole patient and their family. … This program provided an excellent
baseline from which I have been able to start discussions with my primary case
managers.”
He said
the four-day program he attended provided him brain-health care involving a
neuropsychological evaluation to test and review his cognitive function and an
evaluation focused on his sleep problems. The comprehensive approach the
program offered also checked out his musculoskeletal issues and introduced him
to programs allowing him to manage pain, rehabilitation for spinal issues and a
cardiac evaluation following his prior open-heart surgery.
He is one
of more than 130 special operations members who have gone through ComBHat at
Home Base. While in Boston, the combined WCP-CC and Home Base program also offers
care beyond brain health in other medical disciplines such as resiliency,
family outreach, nutrition, orthopedics and physical therapy.
“This
assessment and treatment program is life changing for many service members,” he
said. “The clinical support, education, programs and whole-family focus is a
must for many of our personnel who do not have the skills or time to seek out
individual programs.”
The
WCP-CC was founded in 2005 and currently has more than 18,000 recovering
service members, veterans and family members enrolled. WCP-CC offers a range of
services, some of which include linking members with medical care options such
as ComBHaT, but also recovery, rehabilitation, reintegration, career
transition, information on financial support and family assistance services.
In
addition to Home Base, SOCOM medical providers and WCP-CC work together to
refer service members to additional brain health programs at Walter Reed
National Military Medical Center’s National Intrepid Center of Excellence and the
Neurobehavioral Health Program. SOCOM medical providers and the WCP-CC also
refer members to Veterans Health Administration Polytrauma/TBI System of Care,
and Intrepid Spirit Centers nation-wide.
“Our team adheres to the SOF truth that ‘humans are more important
than hardware,’ and we recognize there is nothing more important than
taking care of our service members and their families,” said H. Kelly Ammerman,
SOCOM WCP-CC Acting Director. “We assist members by educating them on brain
health initiatives and work with SOCOM’s medical providers on referrals to
those initiatives.”
For some, the ComBHaT program may be the right fit. For others, it
may take that program in conjunction with other care plans to fully address all
of their ailments. The WCP-CC team works to coordinate care for the range of
concerns a service member, veteran or their families may have, Ammerman added.
“Due to the nature of their service, many of our special
operations population
have TBIs as well as a host of other Injuries. Their injuries often cross into
multiple medical disciplines and the impact of the effects often transcend the
individual, so it is vital that we take care of the family as well. The
members of the WCP-CC do great work in conjunction with SOCOM’s medical
providers, and we are all thankful to be able to work with medical experts outside
of the military to continue providing additional resources and optimal levels
of care to those who need it most,” Ammerman said.