Measuring sustainability of a grassroots program in a large integrated health care delivery system: the Warrior to Soul Mate Program.

INTRODUCTION: Veterans experience many physical and psychosocial adjustment problems that challenge personal relationships and social functioning and successful social reintegration. The Warrior to Soul Mate (W2SM) program uses a structured curriculum [i.e., the Practical Application of Intimate Relationships Skills (PAIRS)] to address veterans' interpersonal needs by teaching participants effective interpersonal skills. Veterans who attended the W2SM program reported lower anxiety levels, improvements in marital alterations and satisfaction, and increased intimacy, cohesion, and affection. Therefore, sustaining the W2SM program can have long-term positive effects for veterans, families, and the greater society. The purpose of this paper is to describe the sustainability of the W2SM program. METHODS: The Model of Community-based Program Sustainability conceptually guided the evaluation. Twenty-three VA hospitals in the U.S. that offer W2SM programs completed a self-report survey to measure sustainability. RESULTS: The highest scoring sustainability elements were "Demonstrating program results" (M=5.82, SD=1.23), "Staff involvement and integration" (M= 5.79, SD= 1.34), and "Program responsivity" (M=4.39, SD= 1.16); the lowest scoring element was "Strategic funding" (M=2.78, SD=1.75). Statistically significant associations were found between the global middle-range program results and three sustainability elements: leadership competence (r = .472, p = .023), effective collaboration (r = .470, p = .024), and strategic funding (r = .507, p = .014). DISCUSSION: Efforts to sustain programs should focus on leaders planning for sustainability at the onset of program implementation, collaborators must be involved in program design, implementation and evaluation, and long-term funding sources must be secured to support program operations and continuation.

Evaluating the implementation and sustainability of a program for enhancing veterans' intimate relationships.

The Warrior to Soul Mate (W2SM) program is a grassroots initiative on the part of Veterans Affairs chaplain services to provide relationship enhancement skills to veterans and significant others based on the Practical Application of Intimate Relationship Skills model. To examine the implementation and sustainability of the W2SM program, two online surveys were sent to each participating facility's W2SM leader. The first examined how individual W2SM events were conducted (100% response rate, 67 surveys) and the second assessed facility-level issues impacting program sustainability (100% response rate, 23 surveys). Four sites were selected for qualitative interviews based on levels of sustainability. In 2013, W2SM served 1,664 people including 847 veterans, incurring reasonable program costs when compared to other intensive Veterans Affairs services. However, there have been important systematic (e.g., contracting processes) and resource (e.g., time, concern over funding) challenges that are reflected in the wide range of predicted program sustainability.

She said, "some patient needs get dropped due to more pressing issues".

The engagement of the social sciences by pastoral care and education will not turn chaplains or supervisors into social scientists. Ministry is not a higher calling than science; nor will chaplains be co-oped into doing ministry by the numbers. Scientific research in pastoral care and teaching could focus on these broad areas, but administrators face multiple pressures and will not easily be convinced by rational argument. As religion and science dare to engage a meaningful dialogue; a deeper, transcendent reality will unfold.