The Flight Jacket Military News For Flight

The site was launched Aug. 5.

“AfterDeployment.org provides servicemembers, their families, and veterans with online behavioral health tools,” Dr. Robert Ciulla, afterdeployment.org project manager at Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Wash., said on the “Dot Mil Docs” program on BlogTalkRadio.com Aug. 21.

“The Web site is a self-care solution targeting post-deployment adjustment concerns,” he said. “Individuals who might not otherwise seek out services can now be empowered to use AfterDeployment’s resources at their own pace.”

During the initial phases of the site’s development, officials worked to understand the site’s eventual user population, Ciulla said, recognizing that since October 2001, more than 1.5 million United States troops have deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Among that group, Ciulla noted that the most troops are between the ages of 17-29, and have a high school-level education.

“We also recognized that our user population is knowledgeable about computers,” Ciulla said. “The intent, then, was to build a site that offered more than just a lot of text-based articles; we wanted the materials to be interactive. We wanted to give users a variety of ways to access the information.”

The site has many features. “If a user wanted to get a better understanding about their stress level or their anger problem, they can take a quick self-assessment right on the site and get some immediate feedback concerning their scores,” Ciulla said.

Users also can test their knowledge with user-friendly quizzes and participate in narrator-guided multimedia workshops tailored to address specific concerns.