# Developing Cross-Sector Collaborations to Meet the Social Needs of Veterans

> **NIH VA I01** · VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION · 2021 · —

## Abstract

A VA HSR&D-funded multi-stakeholder workgroup identified ways in which research could support the VA’s goal
of addressing Veterans’ unmet social needs. The workgroup identified the siloed nature of VA, the lack of
effective models for finding and connecting VA patients with non-VA social services, and insufficient evidence
on the health impact of healthcare-based social needs interventions as three barriers that could be addressed
by research. This mixed methods pilot study will begin to address these gaps by building partnerships between
the research team, relevant VA program offices, and an organization that has been developing multi-sector
networks to increase Veteran access to health and social services since 2015. Through their AmericaServes
Initiative, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) builds coordinated networks of public and private
organizations to support Veterans. Their breadth of services, wraparound care coordination approach, and
military-centric focus make AmericaServes a promising collaborative for VA medical facilities to join to increase
Veteran access to non-VA social services. Despite the potential benefits, preliminary analyses of AmericaServes
client data and communication with IVMF, the Veterans Experience Office, and other VA program offices,
indicate wide variation in whether and how VA medical facilities participate in AmericaServes Networks or similar
collaboratives. The impact of such participation on Veteran health-related outcomes is also unknown.
The overall objective of this research is to grow the evidence base needed to guide participation of VA medical
facilities in collaboratives such as AmericaServes. As a critical first step, this project will identify how VA medical
facilities currently participate in AmericaServes Networks and factors that impede or facilitate collaboration
across organizations. The project will also establish link AmericaServes and VA administrative data to identify
areas of opportunity for increased collaboration and lay the groundwork for determining the impact of such
collaboration on Veteran health-related outcomes in future studies. The project has three specific aims.
Aim 1 is to characterize the level of, as well as the barriers to and facilitators of, formal and informal
participation of VA medical facilities in AmericaServes Networks. Guided by Himmelman’s Developmental
Continuum of Change Strategies for inter-organizational collaboration, the team will conduct semi-structured
interviews with key informants from a sample of AmericaServes Networks and VA medical facilities. Rapid
qualitative analysis will be used to compare the barriers to and facilitators of different levels of participation.
Aim 2 is to identify the number, percentage, and characteristics of AmericaServes clients who also
receive services from VA medical facilities. AmericaServes data on all 2019 AmericaServes clients will be
merged with sociodemographic and clinical data from VA administrat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10181841
- **Project number:** 1I01HX003386-01
- **Recipient organization:** VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION
- **Principal Investigator:** Leslie R Hausmann
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-06-01 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10181841

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10181841, Developing Cross-Sector Collaborations to Meet the Social Needs of Veterans (1I01HX003386-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10181841. Licensed CC0.

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