Using research to transform care for women veterans: advancing the research agenda and enhancing research-clinical partnerships.

The purpose of this paper is to report on the outcomes of the 2010 VA Women's Health Services Research Conference, which brought together investigators interested in pursuing research on women veterans and women in the military with leaders in women's health care delivery and policy within and outside the VA, to significantly advance the state and future direction of VA women's health research and its potential impacts on practice and policy. Building on priorities assembled in the previous VA research agenda (2004) and the research conducted in the intervening six years, we used an array of approaches to foster research-clinical partnerships that integrated the state-of-the-science with the informational and strategic needs of senior policy and practice leaders. With demonstrated leadership commitment and support, broad field-based participation, strong interagency collaboration and a push to accelerate the move from observational to interventional and implementation research, the Conference provided a vital venue for establishing the foundation for a new research agenda. In this paper, we provide the historical evolution of the emergence of women veterans' health services research and an overview of the research in the intervening years since the first VA women's health research agenda. We then present the resulting VA Women's Health Research Agenda priorities and supporting activities designed to transform care for women veterans in six broad areas of study, including access to care and rural health; primary care and prevention; mental health; post deployment health; complex chronic conditions, aging and long-term care; and reproductive health.

Toward a VA Women's Health Research Agenda: setting evidence-based priorities to improve the health and health care of women veterans.

The expansion of women in the military is reshaping the veteran population, with women now constituting the fastest growing segment of eligible VA health care users. In recognition of the changing demographics and special health care needs of women, the VA Office of Research & Development recently sponsored the first national VA Women's Health Research Agenda-setting conference to map research priorities to the needs of women veterans and position VA as a national leader in Women's Health Research. This paper summarizes the process and outcomes of this effort, outlining VA's research priorities for biomedical, clinical, rehabilitation, and health services research.

Psychiatrists' self-reported adherence to evidence-based prescribing practices in the treatment of schizophrenia.

OBJECTIVE: This study sought to identify relationships between psychiatrists' characteristics and their self-reported adherence to evidence-based recommendations regarding antipsychotic use in the treatment of schizophrenia. METHODS: Surveys were sent to 1,757 psychiatrists affiliated with the Veterans Health Administration. Respondents (N=696) reported their own adherence to two recommended prescribing practices for using antipsychotics. RESULTS: Several psychiatrists' characteristics were associated with greater adherence, including midcareer status, male sex, a caseload with a larger proportion of patients with schizophrenia, and use of current information from scientific literature or from drug company detailing. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified several characteristics of psychiatrists that may affect their adherence to evidence-based prescribing practices for patients with schizophrenia.

Enhancing protections for human participants in clinical and health services research: a continuing process.

The authors provide brief information about the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Veterans Health Administration, to establish an understanding of this large, multifaceted organization. They then offer an overview of the VA's Office of Research and Development, with particular emphasis on recent and ongoing efforts to enhance protection of the rights of human participants in clinical research. The authors discuss various policies and regulations intended to protect human participants in any type of VA research. The protection of human research participants must be a major concern for all researchers. Patients should be well informed about the scope of the research and what their participation entails, and there should be no question as to the voluntariness of their consent. Making sure that these standards are met for each and every veteran who participates in VA research is of the utmost importance.