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Media Advisory: IAVA’s Lauren Augustine Headlines Health Panel on PTSD at Aspen Ideas Festival

ASPEN, CO (June 26, 2015) – Today, IAVA Legislative Associate Lauren Augustine will participate in the Aspen Ideas Festival as part of the “Serving our Veterans” session, speaking on the pressing topic of veteran mental health care. The session was designed to bring veterans health to the forefront of the national discussion on integrating mental health care into primary care.

IAVA’s participation in the event is part of its recognition of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Awareness (PTSD) month. With more than 2.8 million veterans having served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, veteran PTSD has become a massive public health issue with an estimated 20 percent of post-9/11 veterans diagnosed with PTSD or depression.

Mental health care access and suicide prevention are key priorities for IAVA, which looks to connect vets to help when and where they need it through its Rapid Response Referral Program (RRRP). IAVA’s team of trained case managers connects veterans to a range of services as they transition from military to civilian life.

IAVA’s panel is part of the Aspen Ideas Festival Spotlight Health, the opening segment of the Aspen Ideas Festival, running June 25-28. This year’s theme is “Spotlight Health is Smart Solutions to the World’s Toughest Challenges.” Augustine will be presenting alongside David Riggs, Executive Director, Center for Deployment Psychology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; and Dave Chokshi, Assistant Vice President, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation and Assistant Professor, Population Health and Medicine, NYU Langone Medical Center.

WHAT: Aspen Ideas Festival
Tutorial Session: Equality, Dignity, and the Pursuit of Healthiness
“Serving Our Veterans”

WHO: Lauren Augustine, IAVA Legislative Associate

WHEN:   Friday, June 26, 2015
10:20 am – 11:20 a.m. MDT

WHERE: Koch Building, Lauder Room
Aspen, Colorado

About Aspen Ideas Festival:
The mission of the Festival is to create a stimulating and invigorating convocation that links some of the foremost thinkers in the world today with civically-minded leaders in business, the arts, politics, sciences, humanities, and philanthropy who will share ideas, raise challenging questions, and inspire thought to action.

The Aspen Ideas Festival is the nation’s premier, public gathering place for leaders from around the globe and across many disciplines to engage in deep and inquisitive discussion of the ideas and issues that both shape our lives and challenge our times. Some 350 presenters, 200 sessions, and 3,000 attendees comprise the annual Festival, launched in 2005, on the Aspen Institute’s campus in Aspen, Colorado.

Lauren Augustine, Legislative Associate, IAVA
Lauren Augustine is a legislative associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), for which she advocates in Congress to improve the lives of veterans and their families through legislation on a wide variety of issues. She is also the owner and COO of IronClad Fitness and a managing partner of GRN Manassas. Prior to her work with IAVA, Augustine served in the US Army as an unmanned-aircraft systems operator, flying RQ-7Bs, unmanned aerial vehicles better known as the Shadow. She deployed with the Army’s 1st Infantry Division (nicknamed the “Big Red One”) to Taji, Iraq, providing surveillance and reconnaissance for central Iraq and Baghdad.

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