Head of the Health and Welfare Division
Mr. Jos Weerts
Netherlands
The WVF Executive Board has appointed Mr. Jos Weerts as Head of the Division.
Jos studied medicine with specialized training in psychiatry, social medicine and epidemiology. He has worked with civilians affected by war, and with veterans in the Netherlands, for 27 years, most recently as head of the Center for Research and Expertise and deputy director of the Veterans Institute. He has extensive experience in training, coaching and educating individuals, groups and senior leadership of humanitarian and development organizations, in the former Soviet Union and Russia, Nigeria, Sudan, Haiti, DR Congo, Mali, Burundi, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Philippines, among others.
In working with individuals and with groups or organizations, he is especially focused at identifying resources on a personal level and within the organization, and at educating people how to use them. He has extensive experience in counseling individuals as well as in working with groups and senior leadership teams within an organization.
Jos is currently employed as senior researcher and adviser at the Veterans’ Institute in the Netherlands. He studied medicine with specialized training in psychiatry, social medicine and epidemiology.
The WVF Health and Welfare Division (HWD) has the following objectives:
- To provide WVF members with up-to-date (scientific) information including statistics on all matters related to veteran affairs.
- To establish a research and development unit in this Division. This unit will be conceived as a network of researchers and specialists around the world. The HWD will promote the exchange of information in this network and it will stimulate cooperation aimed at developing methods and programs to strengthen the health and welfare of veterans.
- This unit could subsequently develop into an International Institute of Veteran Affairs which will provide comprehensive services such as information, training in veteran affairs management, legislation, fundraising techniques and general research facilities.
- In addition, as is formulated in resolution 2, adopted by the 28th General Assembly in Sopot, Poland, 30 August - 4 September 2015, to organize a new WVF International Conference on the psychosocial consequences and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, caused by War. Previously, 26-30 April 1998, a first WVF International Scientific Conference on the psychosocial consequences of war took place in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Since the early days of the pioneers in research and treatment of persons suffering from social, psychological and psychiatric late effects of war time experiences, a vast body of knowledge has been developed. The number of specialists and publications has increased dramatically, and so have the methods of disseminating scientific information and sharing knowledge. Nevertheless, this knowledge, and more importantly, the services and programs based on this knowledge, are not always available, and where available, are not always accepted or implemented in day to day practice.
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HEALTH OF VETERANS RESEARCH TEAM (HVRT)
The British Members Council of the WVF have teamed up with the Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) and King Edward VII's Hospital to form the Health of Veterans Research Team (HVRT). This unit’s main duties will be:
- To build impartial evidence and compile research reports regarding veteran health and welfare
- To draw information from academic journal articles and Ministry of Defence (UK) reports
- To identify gaps in existing literature
- To detect potential threats to veteran health
- To respond to queries
You can find more information on their website: https://hvrt-mac-veteranshealth.org/
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IGALO PROJECT
The International Project Organisation "INTPO" and the Government of Montenegro are cooperating with the WVF to establish an International Veteran Centre in an existing facility in the Igalo Spa Complex, Montenegro.
The Project will also include a separate International ''Children in Need Rehabilitation Programme" for children different conflicts and natural disasters around the world.
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LONG-TERM MENTAL HEALTH STATUS, HEALTH SERVICE USE, AND QUALITY OF LIFE - A STUDY FROM THE AUSTRALIAN CENTRE FOR POSTTRAUMATIC MENTAL HEALTH
This highly interesting and respected study from the Australian Centre for Post Traumatic Mental Health demonstrates that peace keeping can cause significant mental illness on the same level as combat (and sometimes more). The Australian Centre for Post Traumatic Mental Health (ACPTMH), also known as Phoenix, is a world centre of excellence.
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A UK HOUSEHOLD SURVEY OF THE EX-SERVICE COMMUNITY
The Royal British Legion, one of the WVF's Member Associations in the UK, recently published a survey on the ex-service community on its website. This extremely thorough survey offers an overview of statistics, economics, as well as social and medical issues regarding the British ex-service community.
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COMBAT STRESS PTSD ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL
WVF member association in the United Kingdom Combat Stress recently published an important article on PTSD in the prestigious British Medical Journal. You can read it on the BMJ website or download the PDF by clicking here.
