Coaching Into Care: Veterans Affairs Telephone-Based Service for Concerned Family Members of Military Veterans.

Many veterans who need mental health treatment are reluctant to seek care, and their family members often do not know how to encourage them to do so. In 2011, a telephone-based service called Coaching Into Care (CIC) was developed to address this concern. Callers are provided with educational resources and referrals; in more complicated cases, callers are provided with up to 6 months of telephone-based coaching.

An Investigation of Treatment Engagement Among Returning Veterans With Problematic Anger.

Anger is a commonly reported problem among returning veterans, yet little attention has been devoted to studying treatment engagement among veterans who report anger problems but do not have posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study compares Iraq-Afghanistan veterans with anger/no PTSD (n = 159) to others reporting significant PTSD symptoms (n = 285) and those reporting neither anger nor PTSD (n = 716) on rates of treatment utilization, perceived barriers to treatment, and preferences for care. Relative to the PTSD group, the anger/no-PTSD group was significantly less likely to have received mental health treatment in the last year, despite endorsing barriers to treatment at a lower rate.

Veterans' Preferences for Receiving Information About VA Services: Is Getting the Information You Want Related to Increased Health Care Utilization?

Although the current cohort of returning veterans has engaged more fully with care from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) than have veterans from previous eras, concern remains regarding low engagement with VA services, particularly for specialty services for diagnoses that can most negatively impact quality of life. This study used the framework of the Andersen Model to examine factors related to VA health care use in Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom veterans. Match between veterans' preferences for source of information about VA programs and veterans' actual sources of information about VA services was examined as an additional predictor of help seeking.

Surveying treatment preferences in U.S. Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans with PTSD symptoms: a step toward veteran-centered care.

This study examined health care barriers and preferences among a self-selected sample of returning U.S. veterans drawn from a representative, randomly selected frame surveyed about posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology and mental health utilization in the prior year.

The impact of the 2004-2005 influenza vaccine shortage in the Veterans Health Administration.

Background: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) serves a population at high risk of influenza-related morbidity and mortality. The national public health response to the vaccine shortage of the 2004-2005 season resulted in prioritization of recipients and redistribution of available supply.

Objective: To characterize the impact of the 2004-2005 influenza vaccine shortage on vaccination among users of VHA facilities.

Racial/ethnic differences in influenza vaccination in the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

Background: Racial/ethnic differences in influenza vaccination exist among elderly adults despite nearly universal Medicare health insurance coverage. Overall influenza vaccination prevalence in the Veterans Affairs (VA) Healthcare System is higher than in the general population; however, it is not known whether racial/ethnic differences exist among older adults receiving VA healthcare. Racial/ethnic differences in influenza vaccination in VA were assessed, and barriers to and facilitators of influenza vaccination were examined among veteran outpatients aged 50 years and older.

Hepatitis C tested prevalence and comorbidities among veterans in the US Northwest.

Goals: (1) Investigate the epidemiology of hepatitis C virus infection among patients seen in the Veterans Administration Northwest Network; (2) examine time trends in testing practices and results; and (3) estimate the prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection among active patients.

Background: Hepatitis C virus infection causes chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis and is a leading cause of end-stage liver disease. Hepatitis C virus antibodies are estimated to be present in 1.