Identifying factors critical to implementation of integrated mental health services in rural VA community-based outpatient clinics.

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of the critical components associated with implementing integrated mental health care services in rural VA community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs). In-person semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 health care providers and staff within a year after placing a trained advanced practice nurse (APN) to provide mental health/substance abuse (MH/SA) care at 2 rural CBOCs in the southeastern United States. Four raters independently evaluated interview transcripts and conducted content analysis to summarize the interview results. The results indicate that key contextual factors related to leadership, staff attitudes and beliefs, and unique organizational factors of the clinic and the community can affect the success of such clinical innovations. In addition to providing descriptive information about the attitudes, beliefs, and experiences of CBOC personnel regarding implementation of integrated MH/SA services using APNs, the study findings suggest several domains that could be explored in future studies of integrated mental health service delivery to rural veterans through primary care.

Gender, kinship and caregiver burden: the case of community-dwelling memory impaired seniors.

BACKGROUND: This study examined whether there were gender and kinship (spouse, child, more distant relative) differences in caregiver burden. It further examined the constellation of gender and kinship by examining whether adult daughter caregivers experienced greater burden compared to wives, husbands, sons, and other more distant relatives. METHODS: The sample consisted of 305 family caregivers of memory-impaired individuals who were age 70 years or older and resided in non-institutional settings in Arkansas. A cross-sectional design was employed using validated measures to assess both the memory-impaired elders' and family caregivers' self-reported physical and memory status. RESULTS: After controlling for the age and health status characteristics of the memory-impaired elder, sociodemographic and health status characteristics of the family caregiver, and the caregiver coping response (measured by the sense of coherence), multiple regression analyses found kinship, but not gender differences in caregiver burden. Adult children experienced more caregiver burden than more distant relatives. There were no significant differences in caregiver burden between adult children and spouses. Adult daughters had greater caregiver burden scores compared to more distant relatives, but had comparable scores to wives, sons, and husbands. Other significant correlates of burden included caregiver personal characteristics (age and ethnicity) and the sense of coherence. CONCLUSIONS: The study discusses the practice implications of adult children and adult daughters' propensity to suffer burden when caring for their memory-impaired parents living in the community. It also discusses the relevance of caregiver personal characteristics and the sense of coherence as correlates of burden.