Impact of VVV Group for Veterans With SMI

VA Office of Research and Development38 enrolled

Overview

Veterans with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) struggle with social integration - participation in work, housing, and citizenship - due to symptoms, stigma, and psychosocial challenges. Despite considerable VA efforts to provide mental health care to Veterans with SMI, programs that promote social integration are lacking. Veterans with SMI are at especially high risk for poor social integration and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic. This project addresses this need with a group-based, peer specialist (PS) co-facilitated psychosocial intervention for Veterans with SMI, called "Veteran Voices and Visions" (VVV). VVV targets Veterans with SMI who experience psychosis, a group particularly in need of support with social integration. Virtual VVV groups are co-led by VA mental health clinicians (MHCs) and PSs via online video conference. The approach facilitates group cohesion around and normalization of the common psychotic symptoms of SMI: hallucinations, delusions, and social isolation. This intervention has the potential to create and foster a supportive community that improves the social integration of participants by reducing their distress and self-stigma, and increasing self-efficacy.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Psychotic Disorders Veterans

Interventions

Support groupBEHAVIORAL

This is a group-based, peer specialist and clinician co-facilitated psychosocial intervention for Veterans with SMI, called "Veteran Voices and Visions" (VVV). VVV is an adaptation of a community-based support group model called the Hearing Voices (HV) approach. The approach facilitates group cohesion around and normalization of the common psychotic symptoms of SMI: hallucinations, delusions, and social isolation.

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 18 YearsHealthy volunteers:

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * DSM 5 diagnoses of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar with psychosis, depression with psychosis, unspecified psychosis Exclusion Criteria: * Substance-induced psychosis, * clinically significant neurological disease, * history of serious head injury with loss of consciousness \> 1 hour.

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

The Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scale (PSYRATS-AHS)

PSYRATS-AHS is an 11-item scale which assesses the frequency, duration, severity, loudness, location, negative content, and controllability of voices, intensity of distress, and beliefs about origin of voices and disruptiveness. Range of score is 0-44. The investigators will be assessing for within-subject change. Any decrease in overall score is indicative of decreased distress.

Time frame: 12 weeks after the initiation of the intervention.