MIRECC / CoE

Newsletter | South Central MIRECC

Winter 2019, Volume 21, Issue 1 - In this Issue

Little Rock Site Update
Researchers Awarded ORH Funds for FY19
VISN 16 Providers Train in ACT
Research to Practice | Veteran Attitudes about Smartphone App Use for MH Care
Clinicians, Researchers & Staff Recognized with SC MIRECC Awards
Recent Publications
Pilot Study Research Program Applications Due April 1
Implementation, Design and Analysis Support Available for Affiliates

Researchers Awarded Office of Rural Health Funds for FY19

Three interconnected projects to expand and evaluate access to VA telemental health services received FY19 Office of Rural Health (ORH) funding at our Houston anchor site. These projects focus on home use of VA Video Connect (VVC), which allows Veterans to meet with their health care team using secure, private sessions through their mobile device. These projects will help the VA provide Veterans with convenient options to access mental health care services. This is especially important for Veterans living in rural communities where access to VA facilities is limited.

Serving Rural Veterans Where They Live: Implementing VA Video to Home for Mental Health Treatment

Leader: Jan Lindsay, PhD

Team: Stephanie Day, PhD, Terri Fletcher, PhD, Lindsey Martin, PhD, Annette Walder, PhD, MPH, Amber Amspoker, PhD, Anthony Ecker, PhD, Joseph Mignogna, PhD, Jennifer Bryan, PhD, Paula Wagener, BA, and Richard Nelson, PhD

About: This project uses Implementation Facilitation, an evidence-based facilitation strategy, to increase VVC delivery of mental health care and an iterative evaluation of the implementation efforts to improve the process. The project aims to assist local facilities in their efforts to achieve nationally set goals for telehealth to home by promoting adoption among providers. It will gather information to inform plans for enterprise-wide implementation of VVC.

Significance: Logistical (i.e., distance, travel time & cost, time away from work or family responsibilities) and sociocultural (i.e., stigma, cost) barriers pose significant challenges to accessing timely and appropriate care for rural Veterans. VVC helps address barriers and increase access to care by meeting Veterans where they live, but VVC uptake remains low among providers and Veterans.

Impact: This project will increase accessibility to appropriate mental health care, including specialized care for low-prevalence diagnoses or minority populations, which has the ability to improve mental health and overall well-being.

Cultural-Centered Engagement of Rural Veterans for VVC-Home Delivery of Mental Health Care

Leader: Stephanie Day, PhD

Team: Jan Lindsay, PhD, Lindsey Martin, PhD, Terri Fletcher, PhD, Jennifer Bryan, PhD, Paula Wagener, BA, and Nancy Dailey, MSN, RN

About: This project will examine rurality as a cultural factor (i.e., values, social and geographical contexts, help-seeking behavior, and perception of mental health treatment) through interviews with rural Veterans and feedback from VVC providers. Responses will be used to inform implementation of VVC for rural Veterans and their providers.

Significance: VVC addresses barriers to care, particularly for rural Veterans, by meeting Veterans where they live. As VVC utilization remains low, an improved understanding of rurality to tailor educational and marketing materials may help increase uptake among rural Veterans and their providers.

Impact: With a better understanding of the culture and values of rural Veterans, we hope to improve the information and messaging about VVC for rural Veterans and increase care delivered via VVC. VVC has the ability to address barriers to care and minimize Veteran “costs” (i.e., time and travel cost, time away from work or family responsibilities) subsequently improving the mental health of rural Veterans.

Data-Driven Approach to Continuous Quality Improvement and Evaluation of Mental Health Services via VVC to the Home for Rural Veterans

Leader: Julianna Hogan, PhD and Anthony Ecker, PhD

Team: Jan Lindsay, PhD, Donna White, PhD, Terri Fletcher, PhD, Annette Walder, PhD, MPH, Fallon Keegan, BA, and Richard Nelson, PhD

About: The project aims to utilize clinical data on mental health VVC-Home encounters to identify actionable items that will promote further uptake of VVC-Home. This work will help support implementation efforts of VVC-Home by working with local sites, stakeholders, and leadership to identify disparities and promote actionable recommendations to support uptake of VVC-Home.

Significance: This project seeks to better understand and improve the national landscape of VVC-Home among rural Veterans. We have generated a national data repository to examine the uptake and reach of VVC-Home that will be continuously updated.

Impact: This project will assist in increasing availability of VVC-Home and expand Veterans’ choices of how they receive mental health care.

Last updated: May 2, 2019

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