# Targeting Barriers to Pain Self-Management in Women Veterans: Refinement and Feasibility of a Novel Peer Support Intervention (Project CONNECT)

> **NIH VA IK2** · VA CONNECTICUT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2020 · —

## Abstract

Background. Women are the fastest-growing segment of Veterans Healthcare Administration (VA) utilizers.
Although men and women Veterans both report high rates of chronic pain, rates are higher in women.
Addressing their unique needs is a priority. VA has placed renewed emphasis on promoting self-management
for pain. Despite having a widely supported program for doing so, cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain
(CBT-CP), several barriers to accessing this care and engaging optimally with its recommendations are noted
and these may be particularly salient for women. These include logistical, healthcare delivery, and
psychosocial barriers. Patient-centered efforts to address these in the context of evidence-based pain
interventions, like CBT-CP, may translate to improved treatment access, engagement, adherence, and more
optimal outcomes for women Veterans. Accordingly, a home-based, intervention integrating an evidence-
based CBT-CP program with reciprocal peer support (RPS) has been developed (CONNECT) and is currently
being pre-piloted. Results are promising but substantial refinement and feasibility testing is warranted before a
full-scale trial is warranted. This proposal will optimize the feasibility and acceptability of CONNECT and
examine the potential feasibility of candidate control conditions for a future randomized trial.
Significance/Impact: Because CONNECT is less resource-intensive than CBT-CP and because it is home
based, it may reduce costs and improve access to behavioral pain care, and its success may have implications
for male Veterans with pain. It targets previously unaddressed and potentially modifiable factors (e.g. social
support) thought to be relevant for adjustment and uptake of pain self-management among women Veterans.
Innovation: CONNECT examines an alternate method for promoting CBT-CP that is potentially scalable, cost-
effective and transportable. Specific Aims: Aim 1a. Solicit Veteran feedback on the refined recruitment
strategies, treatment components and materials, duration/content, engagement strategies peer-matching and
data collection methods. Aim 1b. Evaluate the feasibility (retention, adherence, assessment methods,
recruitment rate) and acceptability (credibility, satisfaction) of a refined 8-week RPS pain self-management
intervention (CONNECT) in a sample of 30 women Veterans with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Aim 1c:
Conduct a responder analysis to classify the percentage of women Veterans that evidence clinically
meaningful improvements in pain intensity/interference and depressive symptoms. Aim 2: Use qualitative
methodology to a) examine participant perceptions regarding satisfaction/acceptability of CONNECT, and of
specific components, and b) examine participant perceptions of underlying mechanisms. Aim 3: In preparation
for a future randomized-controlled trial (RCT), conduct a feasibility analysis to determine preferences for
treatment using the prospective preference assessment, which includes ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9833202
- **Project number:** 1IK2HX002664-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** VA CONNECTICUT HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Mary Driscoll
- **Activity code:** IK2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-05-01 → 2024-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9833202

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9833202, Targeting Barriers to Pain Self-Management in Women Veterans: Refinement and Feasibility of a Novel Peer Support Intervention (Project CONNECT) (1IK2HX002664-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9833202. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*