Project Type(s):
Population Health/Implementation

PTSD is one of the most common mental health conditions affecting Veterans and is associated with significant burden. Highly effective treatments exist for PTSD, evidence-based psychotherapies, but very few Veterans receive them. Although VA has trained over 8,500 providers in evidence-based psychotherapies for PTSD over the past 10 years, only 6% of the 650,000 VHA patients with PTSD receive an evidence-based psychotherapy. It is critical that we connect Veterans with our most effective PTSD treatments and that we do so in a way that is Veteran-centered. Shared decision making is a patient-centered approach to choosing healthcare treatment options. It has been shown to increase patients’ motivation for treatment and ability to stay in treatment long enough to get benefit. It has also been shown to help providers align their practice with evidence-based guidelines. This proposal will refine and pilot test a shared decision making intervention for PTSD to be used in VA primary care clinics, where the vast majority of Veterans with PTSD are treated.

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