Increasing Engagement of Women Veterans in Health Research

Joya G Chrystal; Karen E Dyer; Cynthia E Gammage; Ruth S Klap; Diane V Carney; Susan M Frayne; Elizabeth M Yano; Alison B Hamilton

doi:10.1007/s11606-021-07126-4

Increasing Engagement of Women Veterans in Health Research

J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Apr;37(Suppl 1):42-49. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-07126-4. Epub 2022 Mar 29.

Authors

Joya G Chrystal¹, Karen E Dyer², Cynthia E Gammage², Ruth S Klap^{2

3}, Diane V Carney⁴, Susan M Frayne^{4

5}, Elizabeth M Yano^{2

6}, Alison B Hamilton^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Joya.Chrystal@va.gov.
² VA HSR&D Center for the Study of Healthcare Innovation, Implementation and Policy (CSHIIP), VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
³ Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
⁴ VA HSR&D Center for Innovation to Implementation (Ci2i), VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, CA, USA.
⁵ Division of Primary Care and Population Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Abstract

Background: Meaningful engagement of patients in health research has the potential to increase research impact and foster patient trust in healthcare. For the past decade, the Veterans Health Administration (VA) has invested in increasing Veteran engagement in research.

Objective: We sought the perspectives of women Veterans, VA women's health primary care providers (WH-PCPs), and administrators on barriers to and facilitators of health research engagement among women Veterans, the fastest growing subgroup of VA users.

Design: Semi-structured qualitative telephone interviews were conducted from October 2016 to April 2018.

Participants: Women Veterans (N=31), WH-PCPs (N=22), and administrators (N=6) were enrolled across five VA Women's Health Practice-Based Research Network sites.

Approach: Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Consensus-based coding was conducted by two expert analysts.

Key results: All participants endorsed the importance of increasing patient engagement in women's health research. Women Veterans expressed altruistic motives as a personal determinant for research engagement, and interest in driving women's health research forward as a stakeholder or research partner. Challenges to engagement included lack of awareness about opportunities, distrust of research, competing priorities, and confidentiality concerns. Suggestions to increase engagement include utilizing VA's patient-facing portals of the electronic health record for outreach, facilitating "warm hand-offs" between researchers and clinic staff, developing an accessible research registry, and communicating the potential research impact for Veterans.

Conclusions: Participants expressed support for increasing women Veterans' engagement in women's health research and identified feasible ways to foster and implement engagement of women Veterans. Given the unique healthcare needs of women Veterans, engaging them in research could translate to improved care, especially for future generations. Knowledge about how to improve women Veterans' research engagement can inform future VA policy and practice for more meaningful interventions and infrastructure.

Keywords: Veterans; patient engagement; research engagement; vulnerable populations; women’s health.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Female
Healthy Volunteers* / statistics & numerical data
Hospitals, Veterans
Humans
Qualitative Research*
Registries
United States
United States Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health
Veterans*
Women's Health*

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Grants and funding