Fort Stewart welcomes peer to peer caregiver initiative

Courtesy Photo | Injured Soldiers returning to Fort Stewart after a deployment and their caregivers have resources available to help with recovery. The Department of Defense offers many resources for Soldiers and families regardless of geographic location.  

FORT STEWART, GA, UNITED STATES

12.01.2014

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Stephanie Widemond 

188th Infantry Brigade

FORT STEWART, Ga. – Behind closed doors, in complete anonymity, caregivers for wounded warriors share their stories. It is part of a new peer-to-peer caregiver initiative that is gaining traction across military installations, and is designed to empower caregivers with the resources and support necessary to ensure each Soldier has a fighting chance to re-integrate successfully after being injured in combat.

“Usually, we cannot tell somebody that is not going through the same thing how we feel,” explained Tosin Animashaun, Army Wounded Warrior advocate at the Soldier and Family Assistance Center located on the Warrior Transition campus. She said that the best way to get participants to open up is by providing common ground.

“When there is someone who has gone through exactly what you are going through, you will be able to open up and talk about it,” she said.

The peer-peer caregiver initiative originated in Washington, D.C. from the Department of Defense as a way to show continued support for the Soldiers and families who have committed themselves to the defense of the nation.

“This is a first and second lady project. It’s taken very seriously at Pentagon levels,” said a military and family life counselor. Military and family life counselors and recovery care coordinators/ AW2 advocates have joined forces to reach out to caregivers and conduct the voluntary peer-to-peer forums. The forums are intended to provide confidential counseling to caregivers in a group setting. The military caregivers will shape the program by providing input regarding areas on which they would like to focus on, such as mental wellness and managing stress.

“We, as counselors, help facilitate the group so the caregivers feel free to express their feelings about what they are going through,” the counselor said.

In addition to the forum, the initiative provides online tools to caregivers who are unable to attend or may be located in an area where the initiative is not yet supported. Most of the caregivers provide support to Soldiers who are medically discharged.

“When they are discharged, most of them go back home because they are not originally from Georgia. If they are from a small town, they can still access the resources,” said Animashaun. She said that caregivers are transferred to advocates who are often located in the same town. “We have a network of people doing the same job that I am doing across the US,” she said, speaking of the AW2 advocates who support Soldiers by providing answers that they may have during the transition process.

Once the Soldiers have transitioned out, often the caregiver has the burden of making sure appointments are kept.
Knowing who they can turn to for support allows the caregiver to focus on getting the Soldier back to a pre-injury lifestyle.

“The power of the forum is getting people that are going through a similar journey together, so they can share their experiences with each other and support each other. One of the things we really encourage is that they connect with each other outside the forum, as well,” said the MFLC advisor.

In addition to providing continued support to the Soldiers and families, the goal is to alleviate some of the isolation.

“There is a broad recognition that caregivers have the most impact and the most influence on the service members and their recovery. They are the ones that are doing the really hard work in taking care of the Soldier so the forum is designed to be a support for them.”

• Date Taken: 12.01.2014
• Date Posted: 12.11.2014 07:39
• Story ID: 150046
• Location: FORT STEWART, GA, US