Purpose: Veterans Health Administration (VHA) mental health (MH) professionals are providing care to increasing numbers of veterans who served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). This study aimed to describe MH clinicians' views of OEF/OIF veteran needs and how providers meet those needs within a large system of care.
Design: Qualitative research methodology, specifically qualitative description, was used to explore VHA MH clinicians' experiences providing MH services to OEF/OIF veterans.
Methods: Thirteen VA MH providers participated in semistructured interviews, which included questions regarding the following areas: psychiatric needs of OEF/OIF veterans; collaboration and referral; needs and resources; and the personal/professional impact of providing services to this cohort.
Findings: Themes emerged which highlighted complex challenges faced by OEF/OIF veterans, barriers associated with matching the unique needs of these veterans with existing treatments, and the challenges and rewards associated with providing care to members of this population.
Conclusions: Capturing provider perspectives within MH services suggest potential areas for innovation aimed at providing patient-centered care to this cohort of veterans. Results may also inform future work aimed at meeting the needs of both OEF/OIF veterans and MH providers.
Keywords: mental health; narratives; veterans.
© The Author(s) 2014.