# Developing a Blueprint to Implement Whole Health Clinical Care for Veterans with HIV

> **NIH VA I01** · EDITH NOURSE  ROGERS MEMORIAL VETERANS HOSPITAL · 2024 · —

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Background: VA's Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation's Whole Health (WH)
Implementation Guide states: "Whole Health should not be isolated to one specific service line, but instead is
the transformation of care in every service line within a VA facility." Yet, the current implementation efforts are
focused on primary and mental healthcare service lines. Specialty care plays an important role in the WH
System of Care, particularly for Veterans who receive a preponderance of care outside primary care. HIV
specialty care is a case in point. Because of the history of HIV, many Veterans with HIV get both specialty and
primary care consolidated in their HIV clinics, thus potentially limiting their exposure to WH. Further, a WH
approach may be particularly valuable for these Veterans because of their combined challenges of aging,
comorbidities and unique social circumstances, including living with a disease intertwined with blame, stigma
and marginalization. Thus, HIV specialty care clinics provide an exemplary case to further develop WH
implementation guidance for specialty care services.
Significance: Implementation guidance on specialty care’s role in the WH System of Care has yet to be fully
developed. Primary care-based implementation relies on WH champions, training, leadership support and
system strategies to address Veterans’ unique care plans, including coordination across services. Like other
specialty care services, the structure of HIV care is vastly different from large, integrated primary care teams. A
plan for WH implementation in specialty care settings is thus needed.
Innovation & Impact: Implementation plans, co-developed with end users, attend to contextually situated
needs and are more likely to be successful. This proposal leverages the expertise of Veterans with HIV, HIV
providers and leadership to co-design implementation of WH in HIV specialty care. Co-design is a novel
participatory method that goes beyond traditional engagement strategies, like research interviews, by including
end users as equal members of the team. We will identify and work with key stakeholders in HIV specialty care
(e.g., Veterans, HIV providers and leadership) to co-design a WH implementation blueprint, detailing core
implementation features (e.g., the actors in implementation efforts, the actions they take, the targets of their
actions, the timing of these actions). Moreover, because the intersection of aging, vulnerability and stigma are
emblematic of challenges to caring for many Veteran populations, our blueprint can serve as an exemplar to
coordinating a WH approach across VA primary and specialty care settings, truly offering the systems
approach envisioned by VA.
Specific Aims: We will develop a WH implementation blueprint through the following aims: 1) Understand the
extent to which Veterans with HIV are currently receiving WH care at the 18 WH Flagship sites. 2) Examine
providers’ and Veterans’ perspectives ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10632596
- **Project number:** 1I01HX003556-01A2
- **Recipient organization:** EDITH NOURSE  ROGERS MEMORIAL VETERANS HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Gemmae M Fix
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-11-01 → 2026-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10632596

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10632596, Developing a Blueprint to Implement Whole Health Clinical Care for Veterans with HIV (1I01HX003556-01A2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10632596. Licensed CC0.

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