Adapting Measurement-Based Care to VA Home-Based Primary Care Mental Health Treatment: A Quality Improvement Project.

OBJECTIVES: This quality improvement project sought to develop guidance for Home-Based Primary Care (HPBC) Mental Health (MH) clinicians on integrating Measurement-Based Care (MBC) into their practice and gain participating psychologists' feedback on their experience using MBC for treating mental health concerns with HBPC Veterans. METHODS: Based on feedback from the HBPC MH community and in consultation with national leadership, a workgroup of HBPC psychologists developed a guide tailoring MBC to HBPC Veterans. Eight HBPC psychologists piloted the adapted MBC approach with 53 Veterans. Participating psychologists provided feedback on measure administration, Veterans' responses to MBC, and perceived benefits and challenges. RESULTS: Pilot participants' feedback suggested that MBC can be a highly useful tool for delivering mental health services in HBPC, although feedback varied about specific MBC measures. Qualitative feedback was primarily positive, but participants noted challenges based on the nature of the presenting problem and Veteran-specific characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that MBC can be utilized with appropriate HBPC Veterans and has the potential to benefit care. Further research is needed to clarify factors that enhance or reduce MBC's utility within HBPC. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: HBPC MH providers identified MBC as a useful tool particularly when adapted to meet the needs of HBPC Veterans.

Adapting a whole health model to home-based primary care: Bridging person-driven priorities with veteran and family-centered geriatric care.

Through the integration of Whole Health for Life into the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, the VA aims to transform health care delivery from a disease management approach to one that embraces person-centered care. The home-based primary care (HBPC) program is a care model that, within the VA, provides holistic primary care services to homebound veterans with multiple chronic medical conditions, mental health issues, and functional declines. These veterans may have limited access to VA programs delivered in a traditional outpatient format. This article describes adaptations to the whole health model of care that could improve its accessibility and applicability to HBPC veterans, caregivers, and the interdisciplinary teams that serve this population. These modifications are informed by whole-person geriatric and gerontological and family-systems theories and address population-based differences in the focus and approach to care. The focus on care is expanded to (a) reflect the importance of attending to caregiver needs and well-being and (b) shift from a preventative model to one that prioritizes resilience and maintenance. The approach to care emphasizes alternative modes of delivery, adaptations to interventions, and integration of geriatric-specific medical considerations into the self-care domains and more directly centers the collaboration between family, the VA, and community partners. This adapted model also addresses the unique needs of health care teams providing in-home services to medically complex veterans and offers suggestions for enhancing self-care and preventing burnout. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).