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| Volume 23, Issue 1 |
April 2022 |
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A Publication of VISN 5 MIRECC
MIRECC Matters
PUTTING RECOVERY INTO PRACTICE
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Study results demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of the program, with high levels of engagement and generally positive feedback from Veterans.
Dr. Anjana Muralidharan developed a 24-week peer coaching intervention (PEER) for older adults with serious mental illness, to support their participation in a supervised fitness training program. Supervised fitness training included access to a VA gym facility, an exercise prescription, and the opportunity to exercise under the supervision of exercise physiologists.
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Recruitment is underway for this four year project.
Insomnia affects an alarming number of Veterans with psychotic disorders. Poor sleep is a major contributor to poor functioning, high distress, and unrealized rehabilitation and recovery. Veterans with psychosis face many of special challenges to getting good sleep. Some of these include frightening hallucinations that make it hard to sleep, taking antipsychotics with side effects that keep them awake or asleep at the wrong times, and low motivation to stick with good sleep habits. Dr. Elizabeth Klingaman has developed guidelines to assist providers in tailoring the gold standard intervention for insomnia–Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)–so that it meets the needs of Veterans living with psychosis.
There remain barriers to accessing CBT-I, and, when coupled with the sheer volume of Veterans needing insomnia treatment, additional avenues for access to insomnia care are needed.
Clinical and subthreshold insomnia together affect at least one third of Veterans and up to 44% of those seeking treatment in VA primary care clinics. Chronic insomnia detracts from many if not all facets of health and well-being and puts Veterans at risk for mental and physical health problems. The VA has led an impressive nationwide training program for its providers to learn how to do Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I), the gold-standard treatment for chronic insomnia.
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Marginalized and minoritized women active duty service members and Veterans may experience cumulative and significant inequities in chronic low back pain conditions and management options.
Research to-date has identified several structural and systemic barriers to adequate pain management, including bias in pain assessment and referral, delay in treatment, inadequate and inappropriate treatment selection, and lack of patient-centered, culturally responsive provider communication. This study will use DoD and VA administrative data to evaluate equity and disparities of acute and chronic low back pain treatment and timing at the patient-, care-, and contextual-levels.
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IDEAA goals were added to the list of example SST goals in the Initial Individual Goal Setting Session Manual.
The VA Psychosocial Rehabilitation Training Program (PRT)’s main current focus is training VA providers in the evidence-based intervention Social Skills Training (SST; Bellack et al., 2004). SST is a group intervention for teaching interpersonal skills that incorporates modeling, role plays, and other behavioral learning activities. The VA PRT is also focused on developing a new social skills curriculum for Veterans with serious mental illness that addresses inclusion, diversity, equity, access, and accountability (IDEAA). This new skills curriculum is important for recovery because it supports Veterans’ ability to advocate for themselves and their dignity as individuals, live lives that are in keeping with their personal values, and to create safer social networks and communities for themselves.
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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
VISN 5 MIRECC
Baltimore VAMC Annex Building
209 W. Fayette Street,
7th Floor,
Baltimore, MD 21201
Phone: 410-637-1850
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MIRECC MATTERS
An electronic publication of the VA Capitol Health Care Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC).
www.mirecc.va.gov/visn5
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Putting Recovery Into Practice
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