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FORUM - Translating research into quality health care for Veterans


In This Issue

Director's Letter

Director's Letter
by David Atkins, M.D., M.P.H., Director, HSR&D

The current enthusiasm for "patient-centered care" (a recent Google search returns 6 million entries) can be confusing and off-putting to many clinicians. Confusing because it has been applied to a disparate set of care innovations, off-putting because it seems to imply that clinicians need to be reminded to care about their individual patients...

Commentary

Listening to the Voice of the Veteran
by Nicole Hart, B.A., ARVets, North Little Rock, Arkansas

As so many people scrutinize VA to uncover what it does wrong, a comprehensive campaign will help inform and excite Americans about what it does right, such as VA staff's focus on improved patient engagement and patient-centered care ...

Response to Commentary

Patient-Centered Communication—An Important Dimension of Patient-Centered Care
by Howard S. Gordon, M.D., Jesse Brown VAMC, HSR&D Center of Innovation for Complex Chronic Healthcare, Chicago and Hines, Illinois

VA is making substantial efforts to communicate the VA mission and goals throughout its workforce. A recent effort to communicate this mission across VA is embodied in our commitment to the core values represented in the acronym ICARE (Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence)...

Research Highlights

Using the My Story: Personal Health Inventory for Engaging Patients in Care
by Barbara G. Bokhour, Ph.D., HSR&D Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research and Center for Evaluating Patient-Centered Care in VA, both at the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, Massachusetts

A personal health planning tool, the My Story: Personal Health Inventory (PHI), is being piloted in many VA medical centers throughout the country. The PHI was designed by the VA Office of Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC&CT), based on the work of Dr. Tracy Gaudet, to assist in creating a partnership between Veterans and their health care providers ...


Exploring OEF/OIF Veterans' Perceptions of Patient-Centered Care through PhotoVoice
by Gala True, Ph.D., HSR&D Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, Philadelphia VA Medical Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PhotoVoice is a community-engaged research approach that entails giving cameras to individuals to document and convey the conditions, resources, and unmet needs around a specific problem facing their community, as well as identify potential solutions ...


Engaging Patients and Partners in a Stakeholder Council to Improve Patient Care
by Monica M. Matthieu, Ph.D., L.C.S.W., Nicole Hart, B.A., Bridgette Larkin-Perkins, M.B.A., Jeffery A. Pitcock, M.P.H., Kathy L. Henderson, M.D., Angela B. Swensen, M.S.W., JoAnn E. Kirchner, M.D., all part of Mental Health QUERI Stakeholder Council, Central Arkansas VA Healthcare System, North Little Rock, Arkansas

The MH-QUERI Stakeholder Council is designed to improve patient care, not just on behalf of Veterans, but with Veterans and partners working together. This inclusive approach has the potential to accelerate the implementation of effective interventions into routine clinical practice, and ultimately, to improve the quality of mental health services for our nation's Veterans. ...




Conducting Research in Partnership with Veterans Service Organizations: One Center's Experience
by Jeff Whittle, M.D., M.P.H., Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

As health care systems increasingly recognize the need to engage more deeply with the individuals they serve, the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) has the advantage of a defined target population. One appealing approach for VHA clinicians and researchers is to work with Veterans groups, particularly Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs) such as the American Legion ...



A Fond Farewell to FORUM Editor-in-Chief, Gerry McGlynn

We would like to offer a heartfelt thank you and farewell to Gerry McGlynn, who served as FORUM's Editor-in-Chief since 2004. With Gerry at the helm, FORUM maintained its dedication to bringing information derived from health services research to the attention of both VA clinicians and managers. Her energy, enthusiasm, and leadership will be sorely missed. Gerry stepped down as Director of the Center for Information and Dissemination and Education Resources (CIDER) in early 2015. We wish her all the best.


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