Dr. Newton Howard Joins Futures Recovery Healthcare Hero's Ascent Advisory Board

JUPITER, Fla., May 11, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Futures Recovery Healthcare is privileged to welcome Dr. Newton Howard to its Hero's Ascent Advisory Board which helps meet the intense behavioral healthcare needs of first responders, active military members, and veterans. 

Thirty-one percent of first responders experience depression, thirty-two percent experience anxiety, and thirty percent develop Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), according to the National Institutes of Health and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. More law enforcement professionals die by suicide each year than in the line of duty. While first responders and military personnel suffer from significantly higher rates of behavioral health conditions than the general public and need unfettered access to high-quality care designed to meet their needs, persistent fears of appearing weak or losing advancement opportunities or jobs due to mandatory reporting regulations prevent many from acknowledging their behavioral health struggles and seeking treatment. 

Futures Recovery Healthcare Hero's Ascent makes specialized mental health, substance use disorder, and trauma treatment services accessible to first responders, military personnel, veterans, and their family members. Treatment offers tailored therapies, specially trained staff, and a dedicated milieu that promotes privacy and anonymity to help clients feel comfortable, understood, and supported.

Futures Recovery Healthcare assembled the Hero's Ascent Advisory Board to make its Hero's Ascent offering as effective and relevant as possible. The board includes experienced first responders and military veterans, treatment experts, and policymakers who champion high-quality behavioral healthcare for America's large and diverse first responder community. In addition to guiding Hero's Ascent curriculum and directly supporting its clients, Hero's Ascent Advisory Board Members provide consulting and training to military branches and first responder departments nationwide to educate, reduce stigma, and increase care accessibility. 

As a global thought leader, researcher, and innovator, Dr. Newton Howard's participation in the Hero's Ascent Advisory Board makes extraordinary insight and novel treatment options available to Hero's Ascent clients. Moreover, it promises to advance our collective approaches to understanding and treating trauma and neurological disorders. In his current roles as Professor of Computational Neurology and Functional Neurosurgery at the University of Oxford and Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences at John Radcliffe Hospital and Founder and Director of the Oxford Computational Neuroscience Lab, Dr. Howard leads some of the world's most advanced research in diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative disorders. Among his numerous contributions, Dr. Howard is developing the Kinetic Intelligent Wireless Implant (KIWI), a deep-brain stimulation device the size of a grain of rice with the promise of bridging gaps between damaged areas of the brain and revolutionizing the treatment of our most challenging neurological diseases, including Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. 

Dr. Howard is making cutting-edge innovations he spearheads available to Hero's Ascent clients. First responders may participate in a clinical trial being conducted by AIBerry, a company Dr. Howard co-founded that is pioneering a novel mental health diagnostic technology. They may also receive treatment using a neurostimulation device developed by ni2o, where Dr. Howard serves as CEO. While neurostimulation has been found effective in treating trauma and behavioral health disorders, ni2o technology represents a significant evolution by using real-time feedback to improve therapeutic outcomes in fewer sessions. 

In addition to lending unparalleled knowledge and availing Hero's Ascent clients of next-generation therapies, Dr. Howard brings the lived experiences and esprit de corps shared only by members of first responder and military communities. While serving overseas as a United States intelligence officer, Dr. Howard sustained a traumatic brain injury when the vehicle he traveled in struck an improvised explosive device (IED). During the years of recovery following his injury, Dr. Howard committed himself to help others affected by traumatic experiences and neurological diseases. 

Core to Dr. Howard's philosophy is the idea that people possess the inherent ability to transform their lives and the lives of others, a sentiment directly aligned with recovery from mental health and substance use disorders. Much of Dr. Howard's work focuses on collaboratively developing knowledge and technology that expands the possibilities of medicine, positively impacts people's lives, and gives new reasons for hope. As a Hero's Ascent Advisory Board member, Dr. Howard's work and relatability will profoundly impact first responders and families. Yet Dr. Howard's participation also represents a crucial step toward bringing the highest echelons of human thought, medical science, and technological achievement to bear on the daunting task of addressing the exceptionally complex problem of behavioral health disorders — among the leading causes of preventable deaths in the United States.

Learn more about Futures Recovery Healthcare Hero's Ascent.

Media Contact:
Cynthia Goss
Futures Recovery Healthcare
Outreach Professional and Hero's Ascent Coordinator
[email protected]

SOURCE Futures Recovery Healthcare