Veteran Engagement in Well-being Programming in the VA Whole Health System of Care Prior to and During COVID-19 Operations

ABSTRACT

Methods: The population included Veterans enrolled in the WHS nationally. Students t-test was used to assess the difference in unique Veterans engaged in WBP the six quarters prior to COVID (pre-COV) and the six quarters during COVID response (resp-COV). The differences in delivery of virtual WBP was assessed, including (RFLX) Intro to WH Group, (HTAC) Take Charge of My Life & Health Group, (SCHC) EVP WH, (SNVC) EVP Mindful Movement, (HTFC) WH Partner Indiv., (WCHC) WH Coaching Indiv., (WCDC) WH Coaching Group, (CGQC) Qigong, (TAIC) TAI CHI, (YOGA) YOGA, (GIMA) Guided Imagery, (RLXT) Relaxation Techniques, (MANT) Mantram Repetition, (MDTN) Meditation, (MMMT) Mindfulness (non-MBSR), (REIK) REIKI, and (TPHT) Therapeutic/ Healing Touch. Results: Pre-COV, a total of 58,165 unique Veterans were engaged in 14,163 tele-health WBP encounters, compared to 63,648 unique Veterans engaged in 334,472 tele-health WBP encounters resp-COV. A significant increase in average number of tele-health WBP encounters per quarter was observed 2,593 (95%CI 1537, 3649) telehealth pre-COV compared to 52,548 (95%CI 34169, 70926) during resp-COV, p=0.0008. There were significant increases in the delivery of all virtual WBP offerings (all P <0.05), except for SCHC and TPHT. Background: Well-being programming (WBP) is a core part of delivery of Whole Health (WH). During the COVID response, there was a pronounced decrease in delivery of WBP care, with a shift of delivery from face-to-face to virtual. This study describes the impact of COVID on delivery of WBP within the VA WH System (WHS). Conclusion: These data suggest that the response to COVID had little impact on the number of unique Veterans engaged in WBP overall, but the number of virtual WBP encounters increased significantly, comparing the same time periods. This analysis shows that the VA COVID response to increase delivery of virtual WBP as part of the national offering of the WHS was effective.