$1M legion donation to support virtual-reality-based veteran PTSD treatments

Canadian legions across Alberta have gifted the University of Alberta more than $1-million for its "Heroes in Mind, Advocacy, and Research Consortium."

A University of Alberta research association dedicated to trauma-focused therapies for veterans has received $1 million toward new virtual-reality treatment projects.

The Alberta-Northwest Territories Command of the Royal Canadian Legion announced the money, which came from the legion’s Poppy Fund, on Wednesday. The funding is set to go to the Heroes in Mind, Advocacy and Research Consortium (HiMARC).

HiMARC, which operates out of U of A’s faculty of rehabilitation medicine, was founded in 2018 by the Royal Canadian Legion. The association’s goal is to support military members and veterans who may develop operational stress injuries like PTSD and moral injury.

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The group is currently trialing multi-modal motion-assisted memory desensitization and reconsolidation, otherwise known as 3MDR, which is a type of exposure-based psychotherapy.

Suzette Bremault-Phillips, an occupational therapy professor at the U of A and the director of HiMARC, said the donation from the Alberta-NWT branch is “substantial and significant.”

“We’ll be able to advance something of 3MDR, continue the work that we have been doing in providing 3MDR, testing and evaluating it to see for who it works best at what point in their recovery,” she told CTV News Edmonton.

“This work isn’t only for our veterans .. we’ve learned so much to be able to improve and help people be well, stay well and have enriching, full lives.”

Kent Griffiths, the chairman for the Royal Canadian Legion’s Calgary branch poppy campaign, said the group was “fortunate” to have been approached by the U of A for a donation.

“You’re not buying a poppy. Poppies are free. We give you a poppy so you will remember the fallen,” he told CTV News Edmonton. “But if you donate at the same time, it’s a win-win.”

HiMARC also helps advance the education of military members, veterans and their families.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Brandon Lynch