Enhancing data practices for Whole Health: Strategies for a transformative future.

We explored the challenges and solutions for managing data within the Whole Health System (WHS), which operates as a Learning Health System and a patient-centered healthcare approach that combines conventional and complementary approaches. Addressing these challenges is critical for enhancing patient care and improving outcomes within WHS. The proposed solutions include prioritizing interoperability for seamless data exchange, incorporating patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research and real-world data to personalize treatment plans and validate integrative approaches, and leveraging advanced data analytics tools to incorporate patient-reported outcomes, objective metrics, robust data platforms.

Protected Time for Self-Care for Veterans Health Administration Employees.

Objectives: Employee Whole Health (EWH) empowers VA employees to take charge of their well-being by integrating self-care into their workday, but employees lack time to participate.

Methods: Employees at three VA medical centers participated in a 12-month feasibility cohort study to protect 60 minutes of time per week for self-care. Questionnaire data were collected at three time points and qualitative data at two time points.

The Impact of Involvement in Whole Health System for Veterans or Participating in It for Oneself on Job Attitudes in VA Employees.

Objective: The aim of the study is to examine how involvement in the Whole Health System of care, clinically and personally (through employee-focused activities), would affect employee satisfaction, engagement, burnout, and turnover intent in the Veterans Health Administration.

Methods: Multivariate logistic regression analysis of cross-sectional survey from Veterans Health Administration employees was used to determine the influence of Whole Health System involvement and Employee Whole Health participation on job attitudes.

Results: Whole Health System involvement was associated higher job satisfaction, higher levels of engagement, lower burnout, and lower turnover intent.

Veterans Health Administration's Whole Health System of Care: Supporting the Health, Well-Being, and Resiliency of Employees.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is implementing a Whole Health System (WHS) of care that empowers and equips Veterans to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest, and increasingly leaders recognize the need and value in implementing a similar approach to support the health and well-being of employees. The purpose of this paper is to do the following: 1) provide an overview of the WHS of care in VHA and applicability in addressing employee resiliency; 2) provide a brief history of employee well-being efforts in VHA to date; 3) share new priorities from VHA leadership as they relate to Employee Whole Health strategy and implementation; and 4) provide a summary of the impacts of WHS of care delivery on employees. The WHS of care utilizes all therapeutic, evidence-based approaches to support self-care goals and personal health planning.

Patient Feedback on the Effectiveness of Auricular Acupuncture on Pain in Routine Clinical Care: The Experience of 11,406 Veterans.

Objectives: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) launched a national initiative to train providers in a specific, protocolized auricular acupuncture treatment (also called Battlefield Acupuncture or BFA) as a nonpharmacological approach to pain management. This evaluation assessed the real-world effectiveness of BFA on immediate pain relief and identified subgroups of patients for whom BFA is most effective.

Research Design: In a cross-sectional cohort study, electronic medical record data for 11,406 Veterans treated with BFA at 57 VHA medical centers between October 2016 and September 2018 was analyzed.

Integrative Medicine and Health Coaching in Polytrauma Rehabilitation.

Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has embarked on a journey of cultural transformation focused on creating a personalized and patient-driven experience with health care service. In addition to training thousands of providers in the principles of whole health and expanding availability of complementary medicine, VHA also pursues developing the evidence for such care. The Polytrauma Integrative Medicine Pilot explored the feasibility of implementing health coaching in polytrauma care.

Challenges and Strategies for Implementing Battlefield Acupuncture in the Veterans Administration: A Qualitative Study of Provider Perspectives.

Battlefield Acupuncture (BFA) is an auricular needling protocol for pain. More than 1300 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) clinicians have been trained in BFA delivery. However, little is known about how well BFA has been implemented at the VHA.