Implementing evidence-based telephone coaching for health behavior program enrollment: A quality improvement project.

Introduction: This program evaluation describes the use of implementation facilitation to support uptake of a telephone-based engagement coaching intervention, ACTIVATE, using paraprofessional staff, to support health behavior program enrollment.

Method: The RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, maintenance) framework guided the formative evaluation. A mixed-methods approach was used to integrate qualitative (i.

A problem-solving intervention for cardiovascular disease risk reduction in veterans: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: Health behaviors related to diet, tobacco usage, physical activity, medication adherence, and alcohol use are highly determinative of risk for developing cardiovascular disease. This paper describes a study protocol to evaluate a problem-solving intervention that aims to help patients at risk for developing cardiovascular disease address barriers to adopting positive health behaviors in order to reduce cardiovascular risk.

Methods: Eligible patients are adults enrolled in Veterans Affairs (VA) health care who have not experienced a cardiovascular event but are at elevated risk based on their Framingham Risk Score (FRS).

Military and veteran health behavior research and practice: challenges and opportunities.

There are 2.1 million current military servicemembers and 21 million living veterans in the United States. Although they were healthier upon entering military service compared to the general U.

Veterans Health Administration's MOVE! Weight Management Program: Primary Care Clinicians' Perceptions of Program Implementation.

The Veterans Health Administration's MOVE! Program is the largest health care-delivered weight loss intervention in the United States. As a referring clinician's perceptions and knowledge of health programs may impact implementation, examining perceptions of MOVE! may inform improvements to this and other programs. This study investigated primary care clinician perceptions of MOVE! (n = 754, 50% nurses).

Provider and staff perceptions of veterans' attrition from a national primary care weight management program.

Background: Overweight and obesity are growing problems for primary care. Although effective weight management programs exist, these programs experience significant attrition, which limits effectiveness.

Objectives: This study examined provider and staff perceptions of attrition from the Veterans Health Administration MOVE!(®) Weight Management Program as an initial step toward understanding attrition from primary care-based programs.

An examination of sociodemographic, health, psychological factors, and fruit and vegetable consumption among overweight and obese U.S. veterans.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables (F&Vs) is associated with decreased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. This study investigated the relationship between sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial factors and F&V consumption among overweight and obese U.S.

Intensity and duration of obesity-related counseling: association with 5-Year BMI trends among obese primary care patients.

We examined 5-year trends in BMI among obese primary care patients to determine whether obesity-related education such as nutrition counseling or a weight management program was associated with declines in BMI. Veterans with BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) and ≥1 primary care visits in fiscal year 2002 were identified from the Veterans Health Administration's (VHA) national databases. Outpatient visits from fiscal year 2002-2006 for nutrition counseling, exercise, or weight management were grouped into five categories varying in intensity and duration: (i) intense-and-sustained, (ii) intense-only, (iii) irregular, (iv) limited, and (v) no counseling.

The role of mental and behavioral health in the application of the patient-centered medical home in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The patient-centered medical home, which is termed the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), is a transformational initiative with mental and behavioral health as integral components. Funding has been provided to VA medical facilities to assist with the transformation and process redesign of primary care into interdisciplinary teams focused on increased access, Veteran-centered care, and active incorporation of collaborative expertise from specialists within primary care. Primary care clinics are not simple machines that change by merely replacing parts or colocating additional resources.

General and smoking cessation related weight concerns in veterans.

This study sought to assess general and cessation related weight concerns in Veterans presenting for QuitSmart, a tobacco cessation program used extensively in the Veteran Affairs system. Assessed were prevalence rates of cessation related weight concerns, the weight at which concerned Veterans would relapse to smoking, characteristics of weight concerned Veterans, and the impact of weight concerns on cessation at the program's end and at the 1-month follow-up. Sixty-seven Veterans participated.