Recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month: Life-saving Care for Those Who Serve

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Recognizing Mental Health Awareness Month: Life-saving Care for Those Who Serve

Posted on 05.26.23

During Mental Health Awareness Month, we are drawing on our experience working with Veterans and VA to share helpful information and resources regarding mental health.

VA Mental Health Programs: Providing Life-saving Care for Those Who Serve
Veterans face unique challenges that can ultimately lead to a deterioration of their mental health. VA offers nine programs that treat prevalent mental health disorders and decreases the risk of Veteran suicide.

Mental health issues come in many different forms for a variety of reasons. For Veterans, acute stress, traumatic events, moral injury, familial stressors and difficulty adjusting to civilian life can seriously affect their overall health and lead to suicidal behaviors; therefore, it is imperative for providers to offer specialized, evidence-based treatment that can address the unique challenges facing this population.

Last year, over 1.7 million Veterans received mental health services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA offers nine mental health and suicide prevention programs (seven outpatient and two inpatient/residential) that provide various services, including but not limited to screening, assessment, case management, evidence-based treatment models, psychosocial and employment rehabilitation, individual and group therapy, peer support and family and community connection. These programs aim to improve Veterans’ mental health status, reduce the risk of suicide, lower substance or opioid use and help Veterans improve independent functioning.

Aptive HTG conducts an independent evaluation of VA’s mental health and suicide prevention programs to ensure that Veterans receive patient-centered care that decreases the risk of suicidal behaviors. Both Aptive and VA have committed to serving Veterans by ensuring efficacy and effectiveness in VA mental health programs.

Experience

OUR WORK

Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans

Health Care for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need for a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) program office to improve health care and access for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. Aptive helped operationalize the VA’s new Office of Tribal Health, which equips VHA with senior executive leadership, guidance, strategic direction and policy to support health care, access, and Fourth Mission activities for American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans. Aptive completed an extensive functional review with over 45 stakeholders and subject matter experts that informed the Office of Tribal Health’s mission, vision, values and scope. We drafted position descriptions, managed recruiting efforts, onboarded employees and developed the Office of Tribal Health charter identifying purpose, strategy and stakeholders. The work also includes developing and implementing communications and change management plans.

 

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Evaluation of Nationwide Mental Health Care Delivery

Evaluation of Nationwide Mental Health Care Delivery

Identifying what works and what doesn’t could help the federal government make the wisest investments in suicide prevention initiatives. For the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, we facilitate a panel review of best practices for suicide prevention programs. Our team of mental health and other professionals analyze more than nine national datasets, including clinical records, to develop the annual report to Congress that evaluates mental health, suicide prevention and substance use program outcomes, cost effectiveness and patient satisfaction and summarizes best practices in mental health care delivery, including a focus on virtual mental health services. We are also developing an annual report to Congress on VA’s compliance with opioid prescription practice guidelines.

 

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President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS)

President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS)

We provide project management, reporting, implementation and evaluation of VA suicide prevention programs in support of PREVENTS and an ongoing Executive Order. In April 2021, PREVENTS transitioned to the Office under the direction of the VA National Director of Suicide Prevention.

 

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Mental Health and Special Populations

For too many individuals suffering from mental health disorders, accessing treatment is difficult or cost-prohibitive, exacerbated by deficiencies in policymaking and program implementation.

Aptive’s team of behavioral health scientists, policy leaders and program implementation experts understand the necessity of engaging entities across interdisciplinary sectors to address mental health issues and reduce suicide rates.

Our experts design, build and implement custom prevention strategies, research studies, frameworks and approaches to meet organizational needs, specifically focusing on supporting underserved populations.

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