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BACKGROUND/RATIONALE:
Transitional programs provide comprehensive residential services to veterans or active duty military personnel who have sustained a brain injury and/or polytrauma who no longer require the intensity of inpatient program services but have the potential for increased independence. Delivery of a quality transitional program for polytrauma is complex due to the vulnerability of participants, the multiple needs of participants, the complexity of services required to address those needs, intense family involvement and close scrutiny by Congress, VA leaders and advocacy groups. Because transitional programs are new to the VA there is a great need to develop an interdisciplinary, team-oriented workforce that is able to provide numerous rehabilitation services. Given the challenges presented in the care of persons with polytrauma, the long term goal of this program of research will be to develop and test strategies to improve quality of life, patient satisfaction and community reintegration. The short term goal of this project is to begin to understand the educational and training needs of staff who provide transitional services and begin to explore the relationship between staff education and patient outcomes. Objectives of this 6-month evaluation using multi-methods are to: (1) Identify learning needs (skills, knowledge, attitudes) of providers in the transitional program at one VAMC as perceived by staff as well as patients and family members; (2) Determine the content and processes of an educational program to meet the needs of providers; (3) Determine feasibility, test burden and content validity of a battery of outcome measures for patients and families.
OBJECTIVE(S):
Enter text here.
METHODS:
RESEARCH DESIGN: The underlying methodological stance of the proposed program of research is action research in which patients, staff, and families are active participants in the research endeavor to both conceptualize the problems of staff in transitional programs and identify and test solutions to those problems. Specific methods for the proposed study include focus groups and individual interviews (objective 1), a consensus panel (objective 3), and survey methods with cognitive interviewing (objective 3). DATA ANALYSIS: (O1) Focus group and interview data will be transcribed and content analysis will be used to develop codes, higher level categories and finally a narrative account reflecting the perspectives of staff, patients, and families. (O2) A nominal group method will be used to prioritize topics for training. (O3) Feedback from cognitive interviews will be compiled and reviewed by the investigators. Using ranking procedures the investigators will prioritize each of the three questionnaires for each construct.
FINDINGS/RESULTS:
No results at this time.
IMPACT:
The proposed study will begin a program of research in post-deployment health (one of the priority HSR&D topics) designed to improve rehabilitation outcomes to a priority VA population, persons who have sustained polytrauma/blast injuries in OIF/OEF. This basic understanding from the perspectives of staff and patients will be used to develop an evidence-based comprehensive staff training program that will be empirically evaluated in future research. Funding this proposed study offers HSR&D the opportunity to establish a new portfolio in an area of service delivery, transitional programs, about which little is known and for which research is urgently needed. This proposed project is also responsive to the new direction of HSR&D to examine the relationship between provider education and patient outcomes.
PUBLICATIONS:
None at this time.
DRA:
none
DRE:
none
Keywords:
none
MeSH Terms:
none
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