Six Degrees Of Separation - We Will Always Be Red Sox Fans

When Red Sox celebrate, so do I

There is much to the power of connections. Many have heard of the "six degrees of separation" theory -- the idea that everyone in the world is separated from everyone else by no more than six links. (1) Jan's friend's daughter is a consultant to the Boston Red Sox Foundation who helped set up the Home Base Program for Veterans with Massachusetts General Hospital. Through that connection, Jan's friend's daughter got us in touch with a social worker at Home Base who was able to connect us to a specialist in Portland, Oregon who could help our son outside of the Veterans Administration medical system. The BoSox were always a team of interest to me, especially when they made their recent runs and wins for the Baseball World Series (I have a friend from New England who just can't watch their games in the championship runs for fear of jinxing the outcome - I don't think he changes his underwear either). Our oldest son often wears a Boston ball cap, and has always has followed them, and when Jacoby Ellsbury from the Oregon State Beavers College World Series teams played with them, that made the team even more personal. But that Home Base folks were so helpful to us, we are established as a Red Sox family, forever.

Boston Globe Writer Kevin Cullen once featured Home Base in his Sunday column. He is the same writer who wrote about Adam Dickmyer's funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Adam had been the squadron leader of the funeral detail for Senator Ted Kennedy, and Adam and Mike had served together at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier - more connections. Adam, Mike, Jan; Denise, Norma, Jan; Jan, Social Worker in Boston, someone in Oregon, Larry; Adam, the Senator's wife and doctor's nephew, Kevin; and me to these - less than six degrees of separation to all.
___________________________ 
Preparing Clinicians to Serve Veterans and Military Families (2)

As more Post 9/11 veterans choose to receive health care outside the VA, it is critical that community clinicians are prepared to understand military culture, and recognize and treat the “invisible wounds” of war. Thanks to new funding, Home Base is leading this effort in the New England area.

In addition to generous support from the Welcome Back Veterans Initiative of Major League Baseball and the McCormick Foundation, Home Base has received funding new from the Bob Woodruff Foundation and the MA Attorney General’s Office to significantly enhance our clinical education efforts through The Training Institute at Home Base: a Welcome Back Veterans education initiative to heal the invisible wounds of war. With funding from the Woodruff Foundation, Home Base will conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of non-VA clinicians throughout New England in order to document their willingness to treat Post 9/11 veterans and military families in their practices. The web-based survey will assess community clinicians’ experience in providing evidence-based mental health treatment, and their interest in receiving additional training in evidence-based therapy. In addition, the grant will allow Home Base to map and document the location and accessibility of evidence-based clinical treatment for the invisible wounds of war in New England.

“This year, it’s estimated that 40% of returning veterans will be cared for in non-VA, community health care settings. We know from our work in educating communities about the needs of returning veterans and their families that clinicians want to learn how to help fill gaps in care. For the first time, this generous grant from the Woodruff Foundation will enable us to fully document clinical training needs and optimally target our efforts to ensure that veterans and their families have access to evidence-based treatment that is sensitive to the needs of our Post 9/11 veterans and military families impacted by the invisible wounds such as PTSD and traumatic brain injury,” said Naomi Simon, MD, Chief Medical Officer of Home Base.

In May, Home Base was among the organizations to receive funding from the MA Office of the Attorney General to help reduce the stigma associated with seeking help for mental illness and substance abuse. Attorney General Martha Coakley awarded nearly $8 million to a total of 22 organizations across the Commonwealth in order to increase access to behavioral health services. The grant will enable Home Base to provide training to First Responders, patient care and Rehabilitation Professionals to recognize and respond to the mental health needs of Post 9/11 veterans and military families.

“Police, Fire and Emergency First Responders as well as patient care and rehabilitation health professionals are critical partners in identifying and responding to the ‘invisible wounds’ of war among our returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans and their families. Home Base is eager to provide education and training to this community, and extremely grateful to the Office of the Attorney General for this extraordinary commitment to improving the health of Post 9/11 veterans and their families who have served and sacrificed for our nation,” said Brigadier General (ret) Jack Hammond, Executive Director of Home Base.

The Training Institute at Home Base is funded by a two year, national grant from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation and Major League Baseball. It will offer free on-line and in-person training for clinicians throughout New England through the War Zone to the Home Front series presented in collaboration with the VA’s National Center for PTSD; provide in-depth, multi-week courses on-line; and offer targeted consultation training and clinical supervision, considered the “gold standard” in clinical training.
___________________
(1) From ABC News, Six Degrees of Separation: Fact or Fiction? (here)
(2) From the Home Base Program, Summer 2014 Newsletter