Implementing Effective, Collaborative Care for Schizophrenia (EQUIP-2)

Overview

This project evaluates the implementation and effectiveness of a care model to improve treatment for schizophrenia within the context of diverse VA practices and priorities. The project provides information to VA clinicians and managers about Veterans with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who are overweight and/or who would like to return to competitive work. The project facilitates reorganization of care practices in order to get veterans needed and desired services around wellness and work. The project creates a platform that other clinical and research interventions can build upon to improve care, and is designed to inform a national strategy for implementing evidence-based care in schizophrenia.

Objectives: EQUIP-2 is a clinic-level controlled trial. From the four participating Veterans Integrated Services Networks (VISNs), eight specialty mental health programs were enrolled and assigned to care as usual or to receive an intervention supporting evidence-based quality improvement and use of a chronic illness care model. Participants are VISN 3 (James J. Peters VA; Northport VA); VISN 16 (Houston VA; Shreveport VA); VISN 17 (Waco VA; Temple VA); and VISN 22 (Long Beach VA; Greater Los Angeles VA). The objectives of this VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) Service Directed Project are 1) assist in identifying and making available recovery-oriented services to veterans with schizophrenia; 2) implement information systems that efficiently and accurately identify patient status and who would be appropriate for these services; 3) implement a care model to support recovery-oriented care delivery; 4) evaluate, in a controlled trial, the effect of implementation on treatment delivery and patient outcomes; and 5) identify facilitators and barriers to wellness program participation in an effort to strengthen the weight management services available to patients with schizophrenia. The project studies intervention feasibility, acceptability, and impact on outcomes; performs qualitative analyses examining processes and variation in care model implementation and impact. Research includes a controlled trial of the impact of implementation, relative to usual care, on treatment quality. Participants include clinic staff and patients with schizophrenia. Data sources include interviews with participants, focus groups with a sub-set of patients, implementation documentation, the project informatics system, and VistA. Methods: The care model targets two clinical domains selected by the VISNs from the following: Supported Employment (SE), caregiver support, wellness programs, or clozapine. All 4 VISNs chose the same two targets: SE and wellness. The care model includes: 1) at each visit, routine collection of patient outcomes data and provision of decision support using a self-assessment kiosk; 2) provision of "psychiatric vital signs" to patients and clinicians at the time of the clinical encounter via report that prints from the kiosk; 3) education and activation of both clinicians and patients around the clinical targets; 4) regular reports identifying patients appropriate for services associated with these targets; and 5) facilitation of problem-solving and evidence-based quality improvement addressing any barriers to utilization of these services. To inform future wellness implementation, in-depth, semi-structured interviews are conducted with patients who participated in wellness groups ("participants"), and with patients who were referred (because they were overweight or obese) but did not participate ("non-participants"). Participants consist of all enrolled patients who attended the wellness program with special attention to those patients who completed at least half of the wellness program. Non-participants consist of patients who were referred to the wellness program but did not attend. Clinicians were interviewed specifically regarding wellness implementation.