Biopsychosocial challenges in primary care for the combat PTSD patient from a social work and psychiatry perspective

Abstract

Primary care providers are often the first encounter a patient has with medical care and are increasingly being expected by current health care models to extend their case care management role to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' “Advanced Primary Care model, also known as the patient-centered medical home.” This article will focus strongly on the psychodynamics of posttraumatic stress disorder to help primary care providers begin to better define, understand, and evaluate the complex psychological, social, medical, and neurochemical sequelae of posttraumatic stress disorder in combat veterans, and to identify and select biopsychosocial resources for an appropriate needs-based evaluation and treatment disposition for combat veterans.