The Future of Veteran Community Engagement: Perspectives on Engaging Veterans and Other Stakeholders in Research Agenda Setting

Chavez, Margeaux; Blevins, Kai River; Brown, Christopher; Giles, Angela J.; Matthieu, Monica M.; Wester, Marete; Heuer, Jacquelyn; Hahm, Bridget; Lind, Jason; Melillo, Christine; Dillahunt-Aspillaga, Christina; Slone, Lisa Ottomanelli; Besterman-Dahan, Karen

doi:10.21061/jvs.v8i2.360

Cited by 6 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(57 reference statements)

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“…The MSP comprises VA program directors (10/25, 40%), veterans and caregivers (5/25, 20%), established veteran CR researchers (5/25, 20%), and representatives of community-based VSOs (5/25, 20%). The MSP developed a veteran CR research agenda that included 3 research priorities [ 22 ]. In addition, the MSP is currently working with the ENCORE team to prepare materials for dissemination.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MSP was strategically assembled to set a veteran CR research agenda for the VA. An MSP is a collaboration across multiple sectors with vested interests in an issue [ 22 , 34 , 62 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Stakeholder engagement in KT is increasingly recognized as important [ 21 , 22 ]. Stakeholders are defined as “individuals, organizations or communities that have a direct interest in the process and outcomes of a project, research or policy endeavor” [ 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within VHA, the use of stakeholder engagement methods has steadily increased in the past 2 decades [ 22 ]. Methods including the use of advisory councils, veteran engagement groups (VEGs), community-based participatory research, action research, patient-centered research, and human-centered design have become popular within VHA [ 22 ]. There is still a need to identify ways to measure and evaluate the quality of stakeholder engagement and its outcomes [ 31 - 33 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is still a need to identify ways to measure and evaluate the quality of stakeholder engagement and its outcomes [ 31 - 33 ]. However, the impacts of stakeholder engagement on research have been documented in the literature both within the VHA [ 22 ] and within the broader scientific community [ 21 ]. Partnerships among those who produce research and those who use it are likely to enhance the relevance of research and facilitate its use [ 30 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhancing Veteran Community Reintegration Research (ENCORE): Protocol for a Mixed Methods and Stakeholder Engagement Project

Besterman-Dahan¹,

Hahm²,

Chavez³

et al. 2023

JMIR Res Protoc

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Background Veteran community reintegration (CR) has been defined as participation in community life, including employment or other productive activities, independent living, and social relationships. Veteran CR is a Veterans Health Administration priority, as a substantial proportion of veterans report difficulties with veteran CR following discharge from military service. Objective Enhancing Veteran Community Reintegration Research (ENCORE) is a project funded by Veterans Health Administration’s Health Service Research and Development Service. The goal of ENCORE is to maximize veteran and family reintegration by promoting innovative research and knowledge translation (KT) that informs and improves equitable Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) policies, programs, and services. Overall, 2 strategic objectives guide ENCORE activities: mobilize veteran CR research and promote innovation, relevance, and acceleration of veteran CR research and KT. Methods ENCORE uses a mixed methods and stakeholder-engaged approach to achieve objectives and to ensure that the KT products generated are inclusive, innovative, and meaningful to stakeholders. Project activities will occur over 5 years (2019-2024) in 5 phases: plan, engage, mobilize, promote, and evaluate. All activities will be conducted remotely owing to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Methods used will include reviewing research funding and literature examining the gaps in veteran CR research, conducting expert informant interviews with VA program office representatives, and assembling and working with a Multistakeholder Partnership (MSP). MSP meetings will use external facilitation services, group facilitation techniques adapted for virtual settings, and a 6-step group facilitation process to ensure successful execution of meetings and accomplishment of goals. Results As of December 2022, data collection for ENCORE is ongoing, with the team completing interviews with 20 stakeholders from 16 VA program offices providing veteran CR–related services. ENCORE developed and assembled the MSP, reviewed the VA funding portfolio and veteran CR research literature, and conducted a scientific gap analysis. The MSP developed a veteran CR research agenda in 2021 and continues to work with the ENCORE team to prepare materials for dissemination. Conclusions The goal of this program is to improve the impact of veteran CR research on policies and programs. Using a stakeholder-engaged process, insights from key stakeholder groups are being incorporated to set a research agenda that is more likely to result in a relevant and responsive veteran CR research program. Future products will include the development of an effective and relevant dissemination plan and the generation of innovative and relevant dissemination products designed for rapid KT. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/42029

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The MSP was strategically assembled to set a veteran CR research agenda for the VA. An MSP is a collaboration across multiple sectors with vested interests in an issue [ 22 , 34 , 62 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Enhancing Veteran Community Reintegration Research (ENCORE): Protocol for a Mixed Methods and Stakeholder Engagement Project

Besterman-Dahan¹,

Hahm²,

Chavez³

et al. 2023

JMIR Res Protoc

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Experiences and lessons learned from a patient‐engagement service established by a national research consortium in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration

Sides,

Jensen,

Argust

et al. 2024

Learning Health Systems

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IntroductionMeaningful engagement of patients in the research process has increased over the past 20 years. Few accounts are available of engagement infrastructure and processes used by large research organizations. The Pain/Opioid Consortium of Research (Consortium) is a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) research network that provides infrastructure to accelerate health research and implementation of evidence‐based health care. The Consortium's key activities include facilitating Veteran‐engaged research and building community between Veterans and VA researchers. This report sought to describe experiences and lessons learned from the first 3 years of a national research engagement service, featuring a Veteran Engagement (VE) Panel, established by the Consortium.MethodsWe gathered authors' experiences to describe development and operation of the Consortium's VE Panel. Engagement staff collected program evaluation data about partners (Veterans and researchers), projects about which the VE Panel consulted, and meeting attendance during operation of the engagement service.ResultsWe created a 12‐member VE Panel; all of whom had lived experience with chronic pain, prescription opioid medication use, or opioid use disorder. Engagement staff and VE Panel members implemented an engagement service operational model designed to continuously learn and adapt. The panel consulted on 48 projects spanning the research process. Seventy‐eight percent of panel members, on average, attended each monthly meeting. VE Panel members and participating researchers reported high satisfaction with the quality, ease, and outcomes of their engagement service experiences.ConclusionsThis work provides an illustrative example of how a national research consortium facilitated Veteran‐engaged research and built community between Veterans and VA researchers by developing and operating an ongoing engagement consulting service, featuring a VE Panel. The service, designed as a learning community, relied on skilled engagement staff to cultivate high quality experiences and outcomes for all partners.

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Foreword to the Second Volume of the Special Issue on Veteran Community Engagement

Franco,

Hooyer,

Ruffalo

et al. 2023

Journal of Humanistic Psychology

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Veteran community engagement is an evolving discipline informed by traditional community-based participatory research, veteran studies, and veterans themselves. This Special Issue suggests that research collaborations including military veterans, soldiers, and their families as co-researchers is a critical next step toward a design thinking perspective in social and healthcare systems for this population. This Special Issue was conceptualized through a veteran community-academic partnership formed over a decade ago. This partnership hosted several Warrior Summit conferences from 2013 to present, with the last of this series calling for academic contributions. The resulting papers drawn from the conference and other authors form this issue, and include a wide range of topics: veteran microdosing and psychedelic self-medication; a historical view of the impact of education exchange between U.S. and South Korean military nurses; strategies for engaging veterans in research of a theater-based intervention for PTSD; interprofessional approaches to addressing veteran identity considerations through collaborations between chaplain service and psychologists in the VA Healthcare System; an international perspective exploring a community collaborative with veterans in Montréal, Canada; efforts to build long-term and sustainable models for veteran engagement in health services research; community-engaged strategies to address veteran homelessness within broader housing stability efforts; and examining the role of veteran peer mentorship programs in alcohol recovery. These projects represent an emerging movement and offer a multidisciplinary roadmap toward honoring veterans voices in research, clinical services, and program development.

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The Future of Veteran Community Engagement: Perspectives on Engaging Veterans and Other Stakeholders in Research Agenda Setting

Cited by 6 publications

References 34 publications

Enhancing Veteran Community Reintegration Research (ENCORE): Protocol for a Mixed Methods and Stakeholder Engagement Project

Enhancing Veteran Community Reintegration Research (ENCORE): Protocol for a Mixed Methods and Stakeholder Engagement Project

Experiences and lessons learned from a patient‐engagement service established by a national research consortium in the U.S. Veterans Health Administration

Foreword to the Second Volume of the Special Issue on Veteran Community Engagement

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