Symposia
Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters
Nadia Malek, PhD
National Center for PTSD
Milpitas, California
Eve Rosenfeld, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist (Fellow)
VA Palo Alto Health Care System/Stanford
Menlo Park, California
Craig Rosen, PhD
Director
National Center for PTSD, Dissemination and Training Division
Menlo Park, CA
Carmen P. McLean, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
National Center for PTSD
menlo park, California
The implementation of digital mental health interventions for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is rapidly changing how veterans receive mental health care for PTSD. Despite the propagation of various treatment modalities including traditional (e.g., face to face psychotherapy) and digital delivery options (telehealth, web-based, app-based), little is known about veterans’ treatment preferences and how these might be impacted by demographic factors and barriers they experience to accessing care. Additionally, factors such as feelings of isolation, minority stress, stigma, and self-efficacy may also impact veteran choice of modality. The SOTA (State of the Art) Access Model emphasizes perceived access across several domains: geographical, temporal, financial, cultural, digital, and sociodemographic. Using these domains, the current study will examine attitudes towards different modalities of PTSD interventions as well as the barriers to their use among a diverse sample of veterans with clinically significant PTSD symptoms.
Veterans (N = 800) will be recruited through VHA medical records and through an online social media campaign. Participants will complete a survey assessing treatment preferences, barriers to care, and demographic characteristics. Participants will also complete surveys assessing self-efficacy, mental health stigma, loneliness, and minority stress. Data collection will be completed in September 2022.
Successful dissemination and implementation of alternative modalities is dependent upon an informed understanding of the demand for each type of service. Therefore, a better understanding of veteran preferences towards these different modalities may facilitate delivering patient-centered care by recognizing which barriers are most salient for each modality and for whom. Identifying the sub-groups of veterans who are most receptive to specific interventions would allow for individualized outreach and marketing efforts, and thereby have the best chance of successful uptake.