Publications by authors named "Barbara Bokhour"

Objective: Beliefs and perceptions about pain intervention effectiveness when initiating a therapy may influence long-term engagement. This study examines how early perceived effectiveness of complementary and integrative health therapies impacts long-term engagement in a pragmatic trial context.

Participants: Veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain participating in a pragmatic trial of provider-delivered complementary and integrative health therapies (acupuncture, chiropractic care, or massage therapy) used alone compared to combining those therapies with self-care therapies (yoga, Tai Chi/Qigong, or meditation).

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Background: Health care systems are increasingly focused on assessing patient well-being and functioning. The objective of the current analysis was to evaluate a pragmatic question: to what extent and in what way can the PHQ-2, a routinely collected screening measure, be used to help clinicians and a learning health system understand the well-being and functioning of its beneficiaries?

Methods: The current analysis focused on 2872 Veterans who completed a large-scale longitudinal survey about health and wellness for whom we were able to link survey responses to PHQ-2 scores recorded in their electronic health records (EHR). Regression analyses examined the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between PHQ-2 scores recorded in the EHR and measures of well-being (life satisfaction, purpose in life, and social health) and functioning (pain severity and interference, physical and mental health, and perceived stress).

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Background: Measuring patient well-being during clinical care may enhance patient-centered communication and treatment planning. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) piloted the use of the Well-Being Signs (WBS), a self-report measure of psychosocial well-being, in clinical care.

Objective: To understand early WBS implementation and health care team member experiences with its use before developing detailed support materials and finalizing the measure.

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Objectives: In 2023, the U.S. Veterans Health Administration convened a State of the Art meeting to evaluate the existing evidence and make recommendations for measuring the well-being of the whole person in clinical care, health research, and population health evaluation.

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Background: Since 2013, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has advanced a person-centered, Whole Health (WH) System of Care, a shift from a disease-oriented system to one that prioritizes "what matters most" to patients in their lives. Whole Health is predicated on patient-provider interactions marked by a multi-level understanding of health and trusted relationships that promote well-being. Presently, WH implementation has been focused largely in primary care settings, yet the goal is to effect a system-wide transformation of care so that Veterans receive WH across VHA clinical settings, including specialty care.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how patient-directed educational materials can help clinicians reduce unnecessary prescriptions for specific medication groups, notably proton pump inhibitors and high-risk diabetes treatments.
  • Conducted across three VA medical centers, the trial involved 5071 patients and compared an intervention cohort receiving educational brochures to a control group from the previous year.
  • Results showed a higher deprescribing rate among the intervention group (29.5%) compared to the control group (25.8%), indicating that the educational intervention positively affected medication management practices.
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Background: Co-occurring chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with poorer physical and mental functioning and well-being. Treatments often incorporate goal-setting around personally meaningful behaviors; however, it is unclear whether intentionally focusing on improving meaning and purpose in life (i.e.

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Purpose: While the value of art therapy is well-established and arts are increasingly leveraged to promote health and wellbeing more broadly, little is known about the impacts of non-clinical arts programs. In this preliminary investigation, we sought to fill this gap by exploring diverse stakeholders' perspectives on the impacts of non-clinical arts programming on Veterans receiving care at the Veterans Health Administration (VA).

Design: Semi-structured qualitative interviews with Veterans, VA staff, and community partners.

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Background: Hospice care leads to improved patient and family outcomes. Hospice use among older adults with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) is markedly lower than among older adults with other serious illnesses, and the majority of those with ESKD who use hospice enroll in the last days of life. Here, our aim was to explore barriers to timely receipt of high-quality hospice care for older adults with ESKD.

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Background: Acupuncture and chiropractic care are evidence-based pain management alternatives to opioids. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) provides this care in some VA facilities, but also refers patients to community providers. We aimed to determine if patient-reported outcomes differ for acupuncture and chiropractic care from VA versus community providers.

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Objective: To assess the feasibility of a family-involved intervention, family support in mental health recovery (FAMILIAR), for veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) seeking psychotherapy at a single Veterans Administration Health System.

Method: This mixed-methods study reports qualitative and quantitative findings from a single-group pilot of 24 veterans and their support partners (SPs) about experiences with the intervention and interviews with eight VA mental health clinicians and leaders and the study interventionist to explore intervention feasibility. Findings across data sources were merged within domains of Bowen and colleagues' pilot study feasibility framework.

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The Veterans Health Administration's Whole Health system of care focuses on offering veterans holistic health approaches and tailoring health care to individual's goals and preferences. The present study assessed factors associated with Whole Health use and its potential benefits among veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) receiving Veterans Health Administration care. This cohort study used retrospective electronic health records combined with survey data (baseline, 6 months) from 18 Veterans Affairs Whole Health pilot implementation sites and compared patient-reported outcomes between veterans who used Whole Health services versus those who did not, among veterans with ( = 1,326) and without ( = 3,243) PTSD.

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Background: Hypoglycaemia from diabetes treatment causes morbidity and lower quality of life, and prevention should be routinely addressed in clinical visits.

Methods: This mixed methods study evaluated how primary care providers (PCPs) assess for and prevent hypoglycaemia by analyzing audio-recorded visits from five Veterans Affairs medical centres in the US. Two investigators independently coded visit dialogue to classify discussions of hypoglycaemia history, anticipatory guidance, and adjustments to hypoglycaemia-causing medications according to diabetes guidelines.

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Whole person health care, like that being implemented in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration (VHA), involves person-centered approaches that address what matters most to patients to achieve well-being beyond the biomedical absence of disease.

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The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is shifting care from a disease-oriented to health-creating approach that aims to provide whole person care. This Whole Health (WH) system combines person-centered care with delivery of WH services (e.g.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study evaluates the impact of the Whole Health (WH) model on veterans' health and well-being, focusing on pain management and patient-reported outcomes over six months compared to Conventional Care (CC).
  • A total of 9689 veterans participated, with 1053 utilizing WH services, which included personalized goal-setting and well-being coaching.
  • Although both groups showed improvement in pain scores, WH usage did not significantly enhance outcomes compared to CC; however, there were positive trends in patient satisfaction and engagement for WH users.
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Background: Engagement in evidence-based psychotherapy (EBP) among veterans with behavioral health conditions is often low. The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is implementing a "Whole Health (WH)" system of care, to identify veteran personal health goals, align care with those goals, and offer services designed to engage and empower veterans to achieve well-being.

Objective: To examine the relationship between veteran WH utilization and subsequent engagement in EBP.

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Article Synopsis
  • The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is changing how it provides healthcare by focusing on a Whole Health System that considers Veterans' whole lives and well-being.
  • They interviewed 25 healthcare professionals to understand their views on providing this type of care, especially for Veterans with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD).
  • The interviews revealed challenges in areas like understanding what really matters to the Veterans, setting health goals, and knowing how to connect them to various support services.
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Background: There is increasing recognition of the need to focus on the health and well-being of healthcare employees given high rates of burnout and turnover. Employee wellness programs are effective at addressing these issues; however, participation in these programs is often a challenge and requires large scale organizational transformation. The Veterans Health Administration (VA) has begun to roll out their own employee wellness program-Employee Whole Health (EWH)-focused on the holistic needs of all employees.

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Context/objective: Our objective was to describe early participation in Whole Health programs across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Spinal Cord Injuries and Disorders (SCI/D) System of Care.

Design: Retrospective analysis of VHA administrative data.

Setting: The VHA SCI/D System of Care.

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Purpose: This study explored Veteran and family member perspectives on factors that drive post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) therapy engagement within constructs of the Andersen model of behavioral health service utilization. Despite efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to increase mental health care access, the proportion of Veterans with PTSD who engage in PTSD therapy remains low. Support for therapy from family members and friends could improve Veteran therapy use.

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Depression is common among Veterans. Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is transforming into a Whole Health system of care that includes holistic treatment planning, well-being programs, and health coaching. This evaluation explores the impact of Whole Health on improving symptoms of depression among Veterans who screen positive for possible depression diagnosis.

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