Toward Veteran-Centered Research: A Veteran-Focused Community Engagement Project

Flynn, Linda; Krause‐Parello, Cheryl A.; Chase, Sabrina M.; Connelly, Cynthia D.; Decker, Julia; Duffy, Sonia A.; Lapiz-Bluym, M. Danet; Walsh, Patrick; Weglicki, Linda

doi:10.21061/jvs.v4i2.119

Cited by 9 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Community engagement activities, such as gatherings and town halls, provide platforms for invested parties to have an active voice. Innovative community engagement approaches hold the potential to generate socially relevant and applicable research findings (Flynn, Krause-Parello et al, 2019). These methods can establish partnerships around significant clinical and social problems, such as community prevention of veteran suicide, that have not been effectively addressed by traditional randomized controlled trial (RCT) designs.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protective Factors for Suicide: A Multi-Tiered Veteran-Driven Community Engagement Project

Krause‐Parello¹,

Rice²,

Sarni³

et al. 2019

JVS

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Background There are approximately 20 million veterans living in the United States today (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2018a). The military conflicts of the Post 9/11 era, such as Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, increased combat operations and subsequently grew the size of the military, resulting in the largest surge of reintegrating veterans in recent history. The transition from active duty to veteran status often requires service members to move from certainty, routine, community, and a sense of purpose to uncertainty. Reintegrating veterans are vulnerable to social isolation, anxiety, depression, and exacerbations of post-traumatic stress. In comparison to their civilian peers, veterans of these Post 9/11 conflicts experience elevated rates of mental illness and suicide (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). However, struggles with mental health are not unique to newly reintegrating veterans alone. Veterans of prior conflicts also experience a high burden of mental illness (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). For example, in a 2015 assessment of Vietnam veterans, 11.2% had a diagnosis of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), 36.7% had a diagnosis of major depression, and 2.2% struggled with alcohol abuse (Marmar et al., 2015). Further, in 2016, approximately 65% of all veterans who died by suicide were older than 50 years (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). Moreover, approximately 20 veterans of all conflicts die from suicide each day (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2018b). According to the Veterans Affairs (2017), suicide risk was 22 percent higher among veterans when compared to their civilian counterparts (after adjusting for the difference in age and sex). The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), academic institutions, and healthcare and community organizations are developing strategies to address this

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protective Factors for Suicide: A Multi-Tiered Veteran-Driven Community Engagement Project

Krause‐Parello¹,

Rice²,

Sarni³

et al. 2019

JVS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Engaging patients and consumers in healthcare research has the potential to create meaningful interventions, yet there is a well-recognized reluctance among veterans to participate in patient-centered research. This reluctance stems from an unfamiliarity and distrust of the research process (Flynn & Krause-Parello, 2019). Evaluation of this project suggests that participation in the VDRPTP may reduce veterans' concerns about safety and privacy when participating in research.…”

Section: Implications For Clinical Practice Public Policy or Future Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our previous engagement projects confirmed that many veterans are unfamiliar with the research process and are uncomfortable embracing the role of research partner. Operation PCOR was designed based on veterans' expressed concerns and recommendations elicited from our previous engagement projects (Flynn et al, 2019;Krause-Parello, et al, 2019). Therefore, the overarching goal of this current project was two-fold: 1.…”

Section: Rationale Informing the Projectmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent findings from our previously funded, veteranfocused Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) project, Veterans' Action League (VAL): Building Capacity to Engage Veterans in PCOR and CER Activities (Flynn et al, 2019), provided valuable insight regarding factors that contribute to this skepticism. Key factors included avoidance of engaging with researchers and mistrust of the research enterprise.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Operation PCOR: A Community Engagement Project Preparing Veterans as Full Partners in PTSD-Related Research

Krause‐Parello

Flynn

Moreno

et al. 2021

JVS

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Due to the dearth of veteran-centered research, gaining the unique perspective of veterans' engagement in research is essential to address their health needs. Veterans have expressed desire in shaping treatment options for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), however many veterans are hesitant to engage in the research enterprise. This community engagement project was designed to train veterans as full partners and join forces with researchers on PTSD-related patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER). A National Advisory Board (NAB; n = 8) of veterans and key stakeholders were created. The NAB developed the Veteran-Driven Research Participation Training Program (VDRPTP). The VDRTP consists of four modules narrated by veterans: 1) Research Bootcamp-Basic Training; 2) Ethics, Participants Rights, and PCOR and CER research; 3) Communicating About Research; and 4) Time for Action! The VetResearchHub was also created to provide a platform for veterans to engage directly with researchers and collaborate on veterancentered PCOR and CER.The VDRPTP was appraised by veterans who provided feedback about the VDRPTP. The VDRPTP was revised for ease of access. 96% of veterans exhibited overall satisfaction with the modules. Veterans also expressed an increase in willingness to participate in research projects.This project supports a promising first step toward reducing existing barriers between veterans and research teams. The provision of free, accessible, web-based education about the research process, designed for veterans, combined with a networking infrastructure-VetResearchHub-may ultimately support the advancement of veteran-focused PTSDrelated PCOR and CER.

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“…This veteran-driven community engagement enhancement project built upon successful methods developed during prior patient engagement projects (Flynn et al, 2019). Building on our previous research and community engagement work, the objectives of this enhancement project were to: (a) describe dilemmas and health management challenges facing veterans and key community stakeholders during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) provide veteran and stakeholder recommendations for successful approaches to resolving those dilemmas, (c) increase veterans' capacity for social engagement during times of social isolation, and (d) increase veterans' capacity for research engagement across all phrases of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectives research (CER) projects.…”

Section: Project Structure/proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social and Chronic Pain: Veterans Sharing a Path in Developing a Patient-Centered Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Krause‐Parello

Flynn

Hibler

et al. 2022

Journal of Veterans Studies

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The COVID-19 Pandemic limited access to healthcare, engagement in research, and disrupted formal and informal peer and community support systems. As a result, a multistate project using Think Tank Meetings (TTMs) to uncover the needs of veterans experiencing chronic pain was expanded. The expanded project sought to identify factors supporting social engagement, describe COVID-19 pandemic-related dilemmas, and provide recommendations for researchers seeking to engage veterans during times of pandemics and social isolation. The project team used field note templates to summarize veterans' dialogue during TTMs. Collated summaries were analyzed using open and axial coding. In total 151 veterans and stakeholders participated in TTMs across four US states: Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, and New York. Discussions focused on the following aspects of participants' pandemic experiences: managing chronic pain, managing social isolation, veterans' research priorities, and strategies that researchers might use to engage veterans in research during a pandemic. Recommendations for clinical practice, public policy, and future research are presented. Derived from veteran recommendations, a Veteran-Centered Coronavirus Toolkit for Researchers was developed and consists of: (a) field note templates used in this project, (b) veterans' recommendations for effective researcher-veteran engagement strategies during times of social isolation, (c) a checklist for Veteran-Centered Research Engagement that can guide researchers during times of widespread social isolation, (d) a veteran-generated COVID-19 pandemic Patient-Centered /Comparative Effectiveness research agenda including examples of novel Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) questions. The researcher toolkit is available at https:// nursing.fau.edu/documents/cpaww/val-toolkit.pdf. Information presented in this paper is intended for veterans and key stakeholders to collaboratively engage in chronic-painrelated patient-centered outcomes research and comparative effectiveness research.

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Toward Veteran-Centered Research: A Veteran-Focused Community Engagement Project

Cited by 9 publications

References 25 publications

Protective Factors for Suicide: A Multi-Tiered Veteran-Driven Community Engagement Project

Protective Factors for Suicide: A Multi-Tiered Veteran-Driven Community Engagement Project

Operation PCOR: A Community Engagement Project Preparing Veterans as Full Partners in PTSD-Related Research

Social and Chronic Pain: Veterans Sharing a Path in Developing a Patient-Centered Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

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