Mental Health Reform: Design and Implementation of a System to Optimize Outcomes for Veterans and Their Families.

The social, health, and economic burden of mental health problems in the veteran community is heavy. Internationally, the array of services and support available to veterans and their families are extensive but vary in quality, are often disconnected, complex to navigate, and lack clear coordination. This paper describes a conceptual framework to guide the design and implementation of a system of services and supports to optimize the mental health and wellbeing of all veterans and their families. The framework recognizes the diversity of veterans across intersecting identities that uniquely shape experiences of posttraumatic mental health and wellbeing. It brings together several strands of research: the values and principles that should underpin the system; the needs of diverse veterans and their families; challenges in the current services and supports; evidence-based interventions; and principles of effective implementation. Central to the future system design is a next generation stepped model of care that organizes best and next practice interventions in a coherent system, matches service provision to level of need and addresses access and navigation. Practical guidance on implementation provides an aspirational and flexible structure for system evolution, and a template for all stakeholders-individuals, groups, agencies and organizations-to effect system change.

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) in Military and Veteran Populations: A Systematic Review of Population-Based Surveys and Population Screening Studies.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) may be a major concern in military and veteran populations, and the aims of this systematic review were to (1) provide best available estimates of overall prevalence based on studies that are most representative of relevant populations, and (2) contextualise these via examination of IPV types, impacts, and context. An electronic search of PsycINFO, CINHAL, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library databases identified studies utilising population-based designs or population screening strategies to estimate prevalence of IPV perpetration or victimisation reported by active duty (AD) military personnel or veterans. Random effects meta-analyses were used for quantitative analyses and were supplemented by narrative syntheses of heterogeneous data. Thirty-one studies involving 172,790 participants were included in meta-analyses. These indicated around 13% of all AD personnel and veterans reported any recent IPV perpetration, and around 21% reported any recent victimisation. There were higher rates of IPV perpetration in studies of veterans and health service settings, but no discernible differences were found according to gender, era of service, or country of origin. Psychological IPV was the most common form identified, while there were few studies of IPV impacts, or coercive and controlling behaviours. The findings demonstrate that IPV perpetration and victimisation occur commonly among AD personnel and veterans and highlight a strong need for responses across military and veteran-specific settings. However, there are gaps in understanding of impacts and context for IPV, including coercive and controlling behaviours, which are priority considerations for future research and policy.

Health Service Interventions for Intimate Partner Violence among Military Personnel and Veterans: A Framework and Scoping Review.

IPV is a significant concern among active duty (AD) military personnel or veterans, and there is a need for initiatives to address violence perpetrated by such personnel, and IPV victimisation in military and veteran-specific contexts. The aim of this paper was to provide an overview of major IPV intervention approaches and evidence in military and veteran-specific health services. A scoping review was conducted involving a systematic search of all available published studies describing IPV interventions in military and veteran-specific health services. Findings were synthesised narratively, and in relation to a conceptual framework that distinguishes across prevention, response, and recovery-oriented strategies. The search identified 19 studies, all from the U.S., and only three comprised randomised trials. Initiatives addressed both IPV perpetration and victimisation, with varied interventions targeting the latter, including training programs, case identification and risk assessment strategies, and psychosocial interventions. Most initiatives were classified as responses to IPV, with one example of indicated prevention. The findings highlight an important role for specific health services in addressing IPV among AD personnel and veterans, and signal intervention components that should be considered. The limited amount of empirical evidence indicates that benefits of interventions remain unclear, and highlights the need for targeted research.

Preliminary outcomes of implementing cognitive processing therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder across a national veterans' treatment service.

BACKGROUND: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a significant problem for military veterans. There is an international imperative to improve access to effective treatments, but more research is needed to ascertain the extent to which treatments found to be efficacious in research settings translate to successful national implementation efforts. METHOD: This study reports the clinical outcomes for the first 100 clients treated following the implementation of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) across a national community-based veterans' mental health service that commenced in May 2012. The implementation included training and ongoing clinical supervision, leadership support, and updates to the service's data collection and intake system to support the delivery of CPT. The service implemented an intake screen (the Primary Care PTSD) that was used to allocate clients who screened positive for PTSD to CPT-trained therapists. An outcome measure for PTSD (the PTSD Checklist) was incorporated into the services' computerized records system. Clients who received CPT were assessed pretreatment and posttreatment. RESULTS: Statistically significant and clinically large improvements were found for self-reported PTSD (effect size = 1.01, P < .001). In addition, the study obtained high levels of treatment fidelity in the delivery of the CPT treatment. CONCLUSIONS: There is relatively little published research supporting the effectiveness of evidence-based PTSD treatments following national implementation efforts. This is the first study to systematically report CPT treatment outcomes from a national implementation effort, using service-based outcome monitoring data. Results indicate that when administered as part of routine clinical practice, CPT achieves large clinically significant improvements for PTSD comparable with those found in randomized controlled trials.

Treating adults with acute stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder in general practice: a clinical update.

General practitioners have an important role to play in helping patients after exposure to severe psychological trauma. In the immediate aftermath of trauma, GPs should offer "psychological first aid", which includes monitoring of the patient's mental state, providing general emotional support and information, and encouraging the active use of social support networks, and self-care strategies. Drug treatments should be avoided as a preventive intervention after traumatic exposure; they may be used cautiously in cases of extreme distress that persists. Adults with acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) should be provided with trauma-focused cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT). Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR) in addition to in-vivo exposure (confronting avoided situations, people or places in a graded and systematic manner) may also be provided for PTSD. Drug treatments should not normally replace trauma-focused psychological therapy as a first-line treatment for adults with PTSD. If medication is considered for treating PTSD in adults, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants are the first choice. Other new generation antidepressants and older tricyclic antidepressants should be considered as second-line pharmacological options. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors may be considered by mental health specialists for use in people with treatment-resistant symptoms.