Collaborating with Patients

RACHAEL KENNEY
Health Science Specialist, Veterans Health Administration

The number of Veterans (Vets) that the Veterans Health Administration (VA) treated for Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) nearly tripled from 25,000 in 2003 to over 69,000 in 2017. In 2019, the Consortium to Disseminate and Understand Implementation of OUD Treatment (CONDUIT) formed to address this challenge. CONDUIT is a compilation of seven projects focused on increasing treatment for OUD in various settings. One aspect of CONDUIT is an Opioid Addiction and Recovery Veteran Engagement Board (OAR-VEB). The board will meet in person for a kick-off (planned for Spring 2020) and then meet monthly by phone. On each one-hour call, investigators from a project will present a challenge to troubleshoot. This Pragmatic Methods and Evaluation abstract describes the development of this board.

The Denver Veteran Engagement Core (VEC) is selecting OAR-VEB members from each CONDUIT site (Table 1). Members are Vets who identify as being “in recovery” from OUD.

The VEC utilized tools from the VA and the Health Care Systems Research Network to guide board development. The VEC created tools, conducted outreach in Denver, and assisted local contacts at the remaining CONDUIT sites with their outreach. Local contacts performed local outreach and screened Vets before providing contact information to the VEC. Outreach was conducted at VA (e.g., substance use clinics) and non-VA (e.g., Vet-Centers) entities.

To date, 22 interested Vets were identified. Three interested Vets were not in recovery from OUD, two withdrew, one was not affiliated with a CONDUIT site, and one was unreachable. The remaining 15 were interviewed. None withdrew their interest after the interview. To date, 15 Vets have been interviewed and eight members from four sites have agreed to participate. (Table 1)

Identifying local outreach contacts was key; this allowed the VEC to focus on candidates who met the membership criteria. Advertisements, email blasts, and reaching out to outside organizations did not yield a high response.