# Online and Shared Decision-Making Interventions to Engage Service Men and Women in Post-Deployment Mental Health Care

> **NIH VA I01** · IOWA CITY VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · —

## Abstract

OEF/OIF/OND war Veterans have unique post-deployment care needs that the VA is striving to
understand and address. Unfortunately, there is a significant disparity in utilization of mental
health (MH) care and VA access as most war Veterans don’t seek needed care. New
interventions are urgently needed to address disparities in post-deployment MH treatment
engagement for our war Veterans and to support VA’s efforts to provide them with optimal
access and care. Online health interventions have been shown to be preferred by OEF/OIF
combat Veterans and have the potential to promote access to VA MH care. Our research team
has developed a web-based interface (WEB-ED) evolved by feedback from Veterans that
screens for common post-deployment MH and readjustment concerns, provides tailored
education about positive screens, and facilitates linkage to VA resources. Data from our prior
studies demonstrate WEB-ED can be successfully implemented within VA and activate
Veterans to seek needed care. Furthermore, emerging evidence indicates that when patients
are educated about their health conditions and treatment alternatives using shared decision-
making (SDM), increased treatment participation and adherence, and better health outcomes
result. Next steps include: linking Veteran WEB-ED screening results to a VA secure network so
that a provider can access the results; and integrating a SDM interface to promote Veteran-
Provider partnerships in patient-centered care. We propose a three phase study to address our
aims. Aim 1 (phase 1) we will gather qualitative information from key VA and Veteran informants
to create an enhanced version (WEB-ED+) of our Current WEB-ED that includes an eHealth
and SDM interface. Aim 2 (phase 2) will use a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test WEB-
ED+ vs. Current WEB-ED in promoting VA MH care engagement. Aim 3 (phase 3) we will
employ a process evaluation to determine the feasibility and acceptability of WEB-ED+ for both
Veterans and VA practitioner and to document the VA processes Veterans use to enroll and
engage in VA MH care. This study will improve our understanding of the most effective methods
to reduce barriers to enrollment in VA/MHV and transferring important medical information using
My HealtheVet (MHV). Furthermore, it will provide important information regarding how WEB-
ED results can enhance the capability of VA providers and transition patient advocates to use
Veterans’ screening results to triage and engage Veterans in patient-centered MH care and
promote VA provider adoption of WEB-ED+ to facilitate patient engagement. Online screening,
tailored education, and links to geographically accessible VA resources has been shown to be
preferred by Veterans, providing recognition of treatable post-deployment MH concerns, and
education that reduces stigma. This study builds upon and augments this prior work with
research to understand and evaluate the processes needed to integrate WEB-ED+ into current
VHA systems to ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10308530
- **Project number:** 5I01HX002185-04
- **Recipient organization:** IOWA CITY VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Anne Sadler
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-01 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10308530

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10308530, Online and Shared Decision-Making Interventions to Engage Service Men and Women in Post-Deployment Mental Health Care (5I01HX002185-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10308530. Licensed CC0.

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