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Research Topics


Mental Health

Mental health is a broad term used to describe a variety of mental, emotional, or behavioral conditions. Mental health conditions can include anxiety disorder, depressive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), eating disorders, personality disorders, and the more serious psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The impact of mental health conditions is significant—according to the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five U.S. adults live with a mental illness (51.5 million in 2019).

VA health services researchers conduct a wide variety of investigations into mental health conditions, including access to mental and behavioral health services, post-deployment well-being, specific treatment efficacy, and more.

Each section below is populated by a dynamic search of the HSR&D website and its underlying databases. Search results are generated based on the search term "Mental Health". Results are updated regularly, as new data are available.

VIEW: Citations | Publication Briefs | Studies | HSR&D Briefs, Reports, Newsletters | Topic Spotlight | Cyberseminars | Videos | Podcasts | Other Resources



Citations

(5 of more than 1662 MENTAL HEALTH focused publications)



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Publication Briefs

(5 of more than 315 MENTAL HEALTH focused publication briefs)


  • Despite Equal Access and Use of VA Care, Black Veterans are More Likely to Experience Postpartum Rehospitalization and Low-Birthweight Infants
    This study sought to determine whether Black/white racial disparities in access, use, and outcomes are present among pregnant and postpartum Veterans and their infants using VA maternity care. Findings showed no statistically significant racial disparities in access or use of care during the perinatal period; nevertheless, Black Veterans were more likely than white Veterans to experience postpartu...
    Date: July 1, 2023
  • Rural-Urban Telemedicine Disparity among Veterans Worsens Following Onset of COVID-19 Pandemic
    This study examined changes over time in rural-urban differences in telemedicine use for primary care and mental health integration services among nearly 64 million primary care and 4 million mental health integration visits. Findings showed that the pandemic exacerbated the rural-urban telemedicine divide across VA, possibly because underlying causes of digital inequity were not addressed as init...
    Date: March 7, 2023
  • Male and Female Veterans Differ in Attitudes to Referral to VA Care after Calling the Veterans Crisis Line
    This study described Suicide Prevention Coordinator (SPC) referral outcomes for Veterans who contacted the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL) with active thoughts of suicide during calendar years 2018–2019. Reasons given for declining SPC referral suggest that concerns about or discomfort with VA care were a key concern, particularly among women Veterans. Women had a higher rate of declining SPC referrals...
    Date: January 1, 2023
  • Mental Health Staffing Affects Probability of Suicide-Related Events among Veterans
    This study sought to measure the effect of staffing on suicide-related events (SRE). Findings showed that mental health (MH) staffing had a large causal effect on the probability of a suicide-related event. From 2014 to 2018, the per-pay period probability of an SRE among this study cohort was 0.05%. A 1% increase in mental health staffing led to a 1.6 percentage point reduction in SREs. This effe...
    Date: September 11, 2022
  • Differences between VA- and Community-Provided Behavioral Healthcare
    This retrospective cross-sectional study examined differences in the amount and type of behavioral healthcare delivered in VA and purchased in the community. Findings showed that more than 25% of Veterans receiving inpatient behavioral healthcare used VA-purchased community care, but severe behavioral conditions were treated more frequently in VA. Only 4% of Veterans received outpatient behavioral...
    Date: August 30, 2022

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Studies

( 5 of more than 171 MENTAL HEALTH focused projects )

Project No.  Title  PI  Funding Start   
PPO 22-040 Virtual Care Coordination in VA Primary Care-Mental Health Integration Haderlein, Taona 2023-08-01
CDA 20-261 Understanding Community-based Mental Healthcare for Rural Veterans with Military Sexual Trauma Boykin, Derrecka 2022-04-01
CDA 20-104 Improving Mental Health for Veterans with Dementia: Provider Training in Caregiver Engagement Wyman, Mary 2021-07-01
IIR 20-146 Improving Anxiety Treatment Engagement and Effectiveness in Primary Care-Mental Health Integration: Multi-site Hybrid I RCT of a Brief Veteran-Centered Anxiety Intervention Shepardson, Robyn 2021-05-01
CDA 19-233 Quality of Mental Health Services for Homeless Veterans in Primary Care Settings Jones, Audrey 2021-04-01

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HSR&D Briefs, Reports, Newsletters

5 sample "Mental Health" publications displayed.


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Topic Spotlight

Read more on this topic and related topics


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Cyberseminars

The most recent "Mental Health" seminars are displayed.

Date Title Presenter(s)
1/18/2024 Equine-assisted services for Veterans: Current state of the field and future directions Marchand, William  
12/13/2023 Randomized Control Trial Results of a Remotely Delivered Complementary-Partnered Intervention to Improve Veteran Pain, PTSD related, and Relationship Outcomes Haun, Jolie  
12/6/2023 Precision Medicine Approach to Reduce Suicide Attempts for Transitioning Veterans: The Veteran Sponsorship Initiative+ Geraci, Joseph  
9/6/2023 Integrating Peers into Suicide Prevention Pfeiffer, Paul  
Jones, Theodore  
5/17/2023 Healthcare Costs and Utilization Before and After Opioid Overdose in VHA Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Joyce, Vilija  

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Videos


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Podcasts


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Other Resources

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