Bringing Internet-based education and intervention into mental health practice: afterdeployment.org

BACKGROUND: Internet-facilitated interventions may offer numerous advantages in reaching the large numbers of military service men and women exposed to traumatic events. The Internet is now a primary source of health-related information for consumers and research has shown the effectiveness of web-based interventions in addressing a range of mental health problems. OBJECTIVE: Clinicians can learn how to bring Internet education and intervention into routine care, to help clients better understand mental health issues and learn skills for self-management of problems. METHOD: The Afterdeployment.org (AD) Internet site can be used by health care professionals serving U.S. military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and their families. The site currently addresses 18 key domains of functioning, including post-traumatic stress, sleep, anger, alcohol and drugs, and military sexual trauma. It provides an extensive amount of client and family education that is suitable for immediate use by clients and providers, as well as the kinds of interactive workshop content and self-assessment tools that have been shown to be helpful in other treatment contexts. RESULTS: AD can be utilized in clinical practice in a variety of ways: as an adjunct to treatment for PTSD, to supplement existing treatments for a range of post-deployment problems, or as the primary focus of treatment for a client. CONCLUSIONS: AD represents a kind of service that is likely to become increasingly available in coming years and that is important for mental health providers to actively explore as a tool for extending their reach, improving their efficiency, and improving quality of care.