National Center for Telehealth & Technology9933 West Hayes StreetJoint Base Lewis-McChord, WA 98431253-968-1914www.t2health.org | AskUs@t2health.org

The National Center for Telehealth & Technology designs, develops, anddeploys state-of-the-art tools to aid in addressing the psychological healthof service members, veterans, and their families.

T2 is dedicated to establishing best practices, promoting quality standards, and combating the stigma often associated with seeking psychological health services. The core team of psychologists, engineers, web designers, database developers, and project managers build applications for web and mobile platforms, and specialized domains such as clinical telehealth and virtual worlds. Mindful of the importance of demonstrating outcomes, T2 projects are subject to rigorous program evaluation protocols.

Virtual PTSD ExperienceSecond Life® Virtual World

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Virtual PTSD ExperienceSecond Life® Virtual World

Virtual meeting rooms offer caring connections 24/7.

Access Self Assessments anytime.

Virtual PTSD ExperienceThe National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2) Virtual Worlds program is developing VW assets to improve education, access to care and quality of psychological health & traumatic brain injury (TBI) for Service Members, Veterans and their families.

Engaging. Accessible. Anonymous.Virtual worlds are three-dimensional, persistent, computer based simulation environments in which user interact object, scripts and other users in the shared virtual space.

The T2 Virtual PTSD Experience exists within the Second Life virtual world platform and creates an unique interactive environment where visitors learn about the symptoms and cause of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and can access resources for care. This highly interactive environment is available 24/7 through personal computers increasing convenience and minimizing perceived stigma.

Delivering care where it’s needed most.Research indicates that a significant portion (almost 50%) of Service Members who screen positive for psychological health issues

following deployment do not seek care or utilize services. Reasons are likely varied, and may include perceived stigma and access to care barriers.

To lower these barriers, T2 psychologists – subject matter experts in PTSD research – worked hand-in-hand with skilled virtual worlds developers and designers. The result is an environment that invites users to learn by doing, to augment information available on 2D websites, and to connect users in a personal way to best practices and evidence-based care.

Getting there is free – and easy.

Anyone can access the T2 Virtual PTSD Experience by registering for a free basic Second Life account at http://secondlife.com, and creating an avatar; your “virtual self” in the second life environment. You can also take a quick video tour of the T2 Virtual PTSD Experience online at http://t2health.org/vwproj/.Other T2 virtual worlds project include the development of additional educational resources on psychological health topic, exploring provider training and consultation assets, and exploring the feasibility of offering evidence-based psychological health treatment via a virtual world. T2 continues to lead in the exploration of virtual worlds to improve logical health care and outreach.

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