Christine Timko1, Katherine J Hoggatt2, Frances M Wu3, Amanda Tjemsland4, Michael Cucciare5, Amy Rubin6, Tracy L Simpson7. 1. Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California; Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California. Electronic address: Christine.Timko@va.gov. 2. Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Sepulveda, California; Department of Epidemiology, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, California. 3. Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California; Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California. 4. Center for Innovation to Implementation, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California. 5. Center for Mental Healthcare and Outcomes Research, Central Arkansas Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Veterans Affairs South Central (VISN 16) Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, North Little Rock, Arkansas; Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas. 6. National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Health Care System, Boston, Massachusetts; Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts. 7. Center of Excellence in Substance Abuse Treatment and Education (CESATE), VA Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington; Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Abstract
PURPOSE: The present study used national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility-level data to examine the extent of women's specialty substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programming in the VHA. In addition, the study compared facilities with women's specialty SUD programming with facilities without to determine whether having this programming was associated with serving other special patient populations, treatment staffing, and breadth of service provision. METHODS: The study used data from the VHA Program Evaluation and Resource Center's Drug and Alcohol Program Survey, conducted in 2015 (100% response rate among VHA specialty SUD treatment programs). Program responses were calculated at the facility level (n = 140 VHA facilities). MAIN FINDINGS: The majority of VHA facilities (85%) provided women veterans with SUD-specific individual psychotherapy. However, only 30% of facilities provided SUD-specific groups for women only, and only 14% provided SUD-posttraumatic stress disorder groups for women only in specialty SUD treatment. VHA facilities with greater numbers of specialty SUD treatment staff members, a greater breadth of staff roles, and a broader scope of treatment services, activities, and practices were more likely to provide women-only groups. CONCLUSIONS: Because the number of women veterans in specialty SUD treatment is likely to continue to grow, these data serve as a benchmark against which future administrations of the Drug and Alcohol Program Survey will document the extent to which VHA services are responsive to their needs. Published by Elsevier Inc.
PURPOSE: The present study used national Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facility-level data to examine the extent of women's specialty substance use disorder (SUD) treatment programming in the VHA. In addition, the study compared facilities with women's specialty SUD programming with facilities without to determine whether having this programming was associated with serving other special patient populations, treatment staffing, and breadth of service provision. METHODS: The study used data from the VHA Program Evaluation and Resource Center's Drug and Alcohol Program Survey, conducted in 2015 (100% response rate among VHA specialty SUD treatment programs). Program responses were calculated at the facility level (n = 140 VHA facilities). MAIN FINDINGS: The majority of VHA facilities (85%) provided women veterans with SUD-specific individual psychotherapy. However, only 30% of facilities provided SUD-specific groups for women only, and only 14% provided SUD-posttraumatic stress disorder groups for women only in specialty SUD treatment. VHA facilities with greater numbers of specialty SUD treatment staff members, a greater breadth of staff roles, and a broader scope of treatment services, activities, and practices were more likely to provide women-only groups. CONCLUSIONS: Because the number of women veterans in specialty SUD treatment is likely to continue to grow, these data serve as a benchmark against which future administrations of the Drug and Alcohol Program Survey will document the extent to which VHA services are responsive to their needs. Published by Elsevier Inc.
Authors: Sara Spinella; Nicole McCune; Rebecca McCarthy; Maria El-Tahch; Jennifer George; Mary Dorritie; Alyssa Ford; Kira Posteraro; Deborah DiNardo Journal: J Gen Intern Med Date: 2022-08-30 Impact factor: 6.473