Peer-Supported Mobile Mental Health for Veteran Primary Care Patients
Information
Date & Time
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Learning Objectives
Participants will be able to:
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Summarize the prevalence of mental health disorders among Veterans seen in VHA primary care services.
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Identify the most common barriers to mental health care in VHA primary care services.
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Describe the pros and cons to using mobile applications (apps) to support Veterans’ access to mental health care.
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Describe how peer specialists (“peers”) can support Veteran’s engagement with mobile apps for mental health and the evidence for this approach.
Educational Goal
The educational goal of this workshop is to increase knowledge about the Peer mHealth protocol.
Description
One in four Veterans presenting to primary care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) suffers from a mental health condition; however, most do not receive any treatment for these problems. Mobile health applications (“mHealth apps”) can overcome barriers to care access, but strategies are needed to boost Veterans’ engagement with these tools. Peer Specialists (“peers”) are Veterans with lived experience of behavioral health problems who are in recovery and trained to provide services to Veterans who are currently struggling with these issues. Peers are employed by the VHA in both mental health and primary care services and may be an ideal workforce to facilitate Veterans’ engagement with apps for self-care of mental health problems. In the first half of this presentation, we describe the design of a protocol for peers to support Veteran primary care patients’ engagement with mobile apps for mental health self-management (“Peer mHealth”). In the second of the presentation, we share the results of a multi-site pilot study, which demonstrated the feasibility, acceptability, and clinical utility of this approach.
Target Audience
- Counselor
- Marriage & Family Therapist
- Psychologist
- Social Worker
- Substance Use Disorder Professionals
Presenters
Dr. Blonigen is a Research Career Scientist and an Associate Director at the Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System. He is also an Affiliate Investigator with the VA National Center for Homelessness Among Veterans, and a Clinical Associate Professor (Affiliated) in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Minnesota and is a former VA Career Development Awardee in Clinical Sciences R&D. He is licensed as a clinical psychologist in the State of California. Dr. Blonigen’s research mission is to identify and develop innovations to increase access and engagement in substance use and mental health care for vulnerable populations. In particular, he is interested in testing the effectiveness and implementation potential of mobile health and peer-based interventions for justice-involved and homeless veterans. He is currently leading or co-leading multisite trials of behavioral interventions for veterans, which includes use of peer specialists to increase veterans’ engagement with mental health apps.
Financially Sponsored By
- APA Division 18: Psychologists in Public Service