Psychology Recognition Week: A Blueprint for Recognizing and Promoting the Contributions of Psychology at Academic Health Centers.

It is important to recognize and celebrate the contributions of psychologists at Academic Health Centers (AHCs). Recognition events can help attract, retain, and honor professionals who play essential roles in healthcare. This case study describes the establishment of a national Psychology Recognition Week in the Department of Veterans Affairs and offers a model for other AHCs looking to implement a similar initiative. This case study outlines several factors that contributed to the success of developing a recognition week, including the involvement of leadership at all levels, forming a planning committee, setting milestones, building infrastructure, and fostering partnerships.

"Veteran to Veteran, There's Automatically a Trust": A Qualitative Study of Veterans' Experiences in a Peer Health-Coaching Program for Hypertension.

Introduction: Veteran peer Coaches Optimizing and Advancing Cardiac Health was an randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the effectiveness of a peer support intervention to reduce blood pressure among veterans with hypertension and 1 or more cardiovascular risks. The authors studied participant perceptions of the intervention, including barriers and facilitators to participation, factors promoting behavior change, and disease self-management practices. Methods: The authors enrolled participants at their exit visit for the Veteran peer Coaches Optimizing and Advancing Cardiac Health study. Participants received primary care at the Veterans Administration healthcare system and had multiple cardiovascular disease risks, including a diagnosis of hypertension. The authors conducted a qualitative content analysis of semistructured interviews about their experience with the Veteran peer Coaches Optimizing and Advancing Cardiac Health intervention. Results: Interview participants (N=29) were aged 60 years on average (SD=8.6), were 71% male, and were 55% White. They had mean systolic blood pressure of 138 mmHg (SD=18) at baseline. Authors identified themes across 3 major categories, which follow the general progression of the intervention: participation, relationship building, and behavior change. Scheduling flexibility, shared identity and experiences with the coach, acquisition of new knowledge and skills, and goal setting were important determinants of participants' experiences in the program. In the participation category, the themes were scheduling, visit modality, life circumstances, and staffing. In the relationship category, the themes were the coach's professional role, shared identity and experiences, and social support. In the behavior change category, the themes were memory, attention, and decision processes; goal setting; skills and knowledge; and environmental context and resources. Authors report differences across patients varying by blood pressure reduction after the intervention and number of coaching visits. Conclusions: Participants generally reported positive experiences in a peer support intervention for veterans with hypertension. Participant perceptions provide important insights into the intervention design and implementation. These findings may inform future implementation of peer support among veterans in hypertension and chronic disease self-management more generally. Trial registration: This study was registered at Clinicaltrial.gov with the identifier NCT02697422.

Effect of a Peer Health Coaching Intervention on Clinical Outcomes Among US Veterans With Cardiovascular Risks: The Vet-COACH Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Although cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the US, CVD risk factors remain suboptimally controlled. Objective: To test the effectiveness of a home-visit, peer health coaching intervention to improve health outcomes for veterans with multiple CVD risks. Design, Setting, and Participants: This 2-group, unblinded randomized clinical trial, called Vet-COACH (Veteran Peer Coaches Optimizing and Advancing Cardiac Health), used a novel geographic-based method to recruit a racially diverse population of veterans with low income. These veterans were enrolled at the Seattle or American Lake Veterans Health Affairs primary care clinics in Washington state. Veterans with a diagnosis of hypertension with at least 1 blood pressure reading of 150/90 mm Hg or higher in the past year, and 1 other CVD risk factor (current smoker, overweight or obesity, and/or hyperlipidemia), who resided in Census tracts with the highest prevalence of hypertension were eligible to participate. Participants were randomized to the intervention group (n = 134) or control group (n = 130). An intention-to-treat analysis was performed from May 2017 to October 2021. Intervention: Participants in the intervention group received peer health coaching for 12 months with mandatory and optional educational materials, an automatic blood pressure monitor, a scale, a pill organizer, and healthy nutrition tools. Participants in the control group received usual care plus educational materials. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was a change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) from baseline to 12-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included change in health-related quality of life (HRQOL; measured using the 12-item Short Form survey's Mental Component Summary and Physical Component Summary scores), Framingham Risk Score, and overall CVD risk and health care use (hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and outpatient visits). Results: The 264 participants who were randomized (mean [SD] age of 60.6 [9.7] years) were predominantly male (229 [87%]) and 73 (28%) were Black individuals and 103 (44%) reported low annual income (<$40 000 per year). Seven peer health coaches were recruited. No difference was found in change in SBP between the intervention and control groups (-3.32 [95% CI, -6.88 to 0.23] mm Hg vs -0.40 [95% CI, -4.20 to 3.39] mm Hg; adjusted difference in differences, -2.05 [95% CI, -7.00 to 2.55] mm Hg; P = .40). Participants in the intervention vs control group reported greater improvements in mental HRQOL scores (2.19 [95% CI, 0.26-4.12] points vs -1.01 [95% CI, -2.91 to 0.88] points; adjusted difference in differences, 3.64 [95% CI, 0.66-6.63] points; P = .02). No difference was found in physical HRQOL scores, Framingham Risk Scores, and overall CVD risk or health care use. Conclusions and Relevance: This trial found that, although the peer health coaching program did not significantly decrease SBP, participants who received the intervention reported better mental HRQOL compared with the control group. The results suggest that a peer-support model that is integrated into primary care can create opportunities for well-being improvements beyond blood pressure control. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02697422.

Veteran peer Coaches Optimizing and Advancing Cardiac Health (Vet-COACH); design and rationale for a randomized controlled trial of peer support among Veterans with poorly controlled hypertension and other CVD risks.

BACKGROUND: Peer support can improve health for patients with chronic conditions; however, evidence for disease prevention is less clear and peer recruitment strategies are not well described. This paper describes a study protocol to evaluate a peer support intervention to improve hypertension control and reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. METHODS & RESEARCH DESIGN: Target enrollment for this two-site study is n = 400. Eligibility criteria include Veterans enrolled in Veterans Health Administration (VHA) primary care with poorly controlled hypertension and one other cardiovascular disease risk (smoking, overweight/obesity, or hyperlipidemia) who live in census tracts with high rates of hypertension. Enrolled participants are randomized to a home-based peer delivered self-management intervention (5 home visits and 5 phone calls with a peer health coach) versus usual care. The primary outcome is a change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) and secondary outcomes include change in CVD risk and health care use. RESULTS: Trial results are pending and participant enrollment is ongoing. We recruited peer coaches from Veterans who lived in census tracks with the highest rates of hypertension. To recruit Veteran peer coaches, we asked primary care providers (n = 41) and team nurses (n = 35) to nominate patients who they thought would be a good fit for the peer coach position (based on successful self-management and health care navigation) (n = 73 nominated from 964 patients). We interviewed 12 Veterans and trained 5 peer coaches. CONCLUSIONS: Results of this trial will inform peer support programs targeted to provide community-based delivery of prevention services to patients in high-risk areas. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrial.gov identifier NCT02697422 TRIAL STATUS: Enrollment for the randomized trial phase began in September 2017 and will be complete September 2019.

Sexuality and the commission of physical violence to partners and non-partners by men and women.

In 2 studies of physical violence and sexuality among college students, more than 75% of men and more than 60% of women reported committing physical violence in the past year, including more women to partners and more men to non-partners. More than 90% of men who committed violence to partners were also violent to non-partners. In Study 1, among 193 men and 203 women, people who committed violence had higher scores on sexual depression and general depression than did people who were not violent. People violent to non-partners had more sexual preoccupation and more alcohol use problems than did other people. In Study 2, among 160 college men and 138 college women, people in 4 violence groups did not differ in total sexual fantasies or sexual functioning. The findings support the importance of differentiating between violence toward partners and toward non-partners among both men and women and suggest a role of depression in partner violence and antisocial features in violence toward non-partners.