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Healthcare systems face difficulty implementing evidence-based practices, particularly multicomponent interventions. Additional challenges occur in settings serving vulnerable populations such as homeless Veterans, given the population's acuity, multiple service needs, and organizational barriers. Implementation Facilitation (IF) is a strategy to support the uptake of evidence-based practices. This study's aim was to simultaneously examine IF on the uptake of Maintaining Independence and Sobriety Through Systems Integration, Outreach and Networking-Veterans Edition (MISSION-Vet), an evidence-based multicomponent treatment engagement intervention for homeless Veterans with co-occurring mental health and substance abuse, and clinical outcomes among Veterans receiving MISSION-Vet. This multi-site hybrid III modified stepped-wedge trial involved seven programs at two Veterans Affairs Medical Centers comparing Implementation as Usual (IU; training and educational materials) to IF (IU + internal and external facilitation). A total of 110 facilitation events averaging 27 minutes were conducted, of which 85% were virtual. Staff (case managers and peer specialists; n = 108) were trained in MISSION-Vet and completed organizational readiness assessments (n = 77). Although both sites reported being willing to innovate and a desire to improve outcomes, implementation climate significantly differed. Following IU, no staff at either site conducted MISSION-Vet. Following IF, there was a significant MISSION-Vet implementation difference between sites (53% vs. 14%, p = .002). Among the 93 Veterans that received any MISSION-Vet services, they received an average of six sessions. Significant positive associations were found between number of MISSION-Vet sessions and outpatient treatment engagement measured by the number of outpatient visits attended. While staff were interested in improving patient outcomes, MISSION-Vet was not implemented with IU. IF supported MISSION-Vet uptake and increased outpatient service utilization, but MISSION-Vet still proved difficult to implement particularly in the larger healthcare system. Future studies might tailor implementation strategies to organizational readiness. ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02942979.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329874.].

In the United States, taper and discontinuation of opioids prescribed for long-term pain have emerged as statistical correlates of suicidal events. Suicide is a complex and multidetermined event reflecting a combination of risks occurring over time in a particular narrative context. Prevention of suicides should be informed by a detailed understanding of life events, pain-related and other risk factors contributing to these tragedies. To date, there have been no efforts to qualitatively profile these suicides through interview of bereaved survivors or review of medical records. This method is usually termed \"psychological autopsy.\". This paper summarizes the protocol for the Clinical Context of Suicide Following Opioid Transitions (CSI:OPIOIDs) study. The study seeks to qualitatively characterize patient and clinical context factors associated with suicide among persons who died by suicide in the context of opioid stoppage or reduction, and to compare findings between Veteran and non-Veteran decedents. In the United States, there is no master list for suicide deaths linked to an antemortem health care event. For this reason, recruitment requires public advertising followed by screening of bereaved individuals who wish to participate. Data collection and interpretation are guided by the Social-Ecological Model for suicide. The study involves a collaboration of persons with lived experience and disciplinary experts in suicide, primary care, pain, health services, and medical anthropology. This study aims to deliver the first in-depth analysis of suicide events occurring in persons with chronic pain who died by suicide in the context of a prescription opioid reduction or stoppage. The results should provide insights that can guide alterations to care by health systems and by individual practitioners.

Background Shared Decision-Making to discuss how the benefits and harms of lung cancer screening align with patient values is required by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid and recommended by multiple organizations. Barriers at organizational, clinician, clinical encounter, and patient levels prevent SDM from meeting quality standards in routine practice. We developed an implementation plan, using the socio-ecological model, for Shared Decision-Making for lung cancer screening for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) New England Healthcare System. Because understanding the local context is critical to implementation success, we sought to proactively tailor our original implementation plan, to address barriers to achieving guideline-concordant lung cancer screening. Methods We conducted a formative evaluation using an ethnographic approach to proactively identify barriers to Shared Decision-Making and tailor our implementation plan. Data consisted of qualitative interviews with leadership and clinicians from seven VA New England medical centers, regional meeting notes, and Shared Decision-Making scripts and documents used by providers. Tailoring was guided by the Framework for Reporting Adaptations and Modifications to Evidence-based Implementation Strategies (FRAME-IS). Results We tailored the original implementation plan to address barriers we identified at the organizational, clinician, clinical encounter, and patient levels. Overall, we removed two implementation strategies, added five strategies, and modified the content of two strategies. For example, at the clinician level, we learned that past personal and clinical experiences predisposed clinicians to focus on the benefits of lung cancer screening. To address this barrier, we modified the content of our original implementation strategy Make Training Dynamic to prompt providers to self-reflect about their screening beliefs and values, encouraging them to discuss both the benefits and potential harms of lung cancer screening. Conclusions Formative evaluations can be used to proactively tailor implementation strategies to fit local contexts. We tailored our implementation plan to address unique barriers we identified, with the goal of improving implementation success. The FRAME-IS aided our team in thoughtfully addressing and modifying our original implementation plan. Others seeking to maximize the effectiveness of complex interventions may consider using a similar approach.

In the crowded and busy arena of obesity and fat studies, there is a lack of attention to the lived experiences of people, how and why they eat what they do, and how people in cross-cultural settings understand risk, health, and bodies. This volume addresses the lacuna by drawing on ethnographic methods and analytical emic explorations in order to consider the impact of cultural difference, embodiment, and local knowledge on understanding obesity. It is through this reconstruction of how obesity and fatness are studied and understood that a new discussion will be introduced and a new set of analytical explorations about obesity research and the effectiveness of obesity interventions will be established.

Older adults are more likely to have multiple chronic conditions, be prescribed multiple medications, and be more susceptible to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) to their medications. In addition, older adults often use over-the-counter medications and supplements, further complicating their medication regimens. Complex medication regimens are potentially harmful to older adults. Interventions aimed at reducing medication discrepancy in the ambulatory clinic setting, such as reviews of medication lists and the implementation of \"brown bag\" reconciliation, continue to be challenging, with limited success. Pharmacist-led interventions to improve appropriate medication use in older adults have demonstrated effectiveness in reducing ADRs. Video visits have the potential to provide direct visualization of medications in older adults' homes, thereby reducing medication discrepancy and increasing medication adherence. Pharmacist-led management of older adults' medication regimens may improve appropriate medication use in older adults. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of pharmacist-led medication through home televisits compared to usual care on appropriate medication use, medication discrepancies, medication adherence, and ADRs. We will conduct a 2-site cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT). The intervention will be a pharmacist-led home televisit including medication reconciliation and assessment of actual medication use. The cluster RCT was iteratively adapted after a pilot test. The primary outcome of medication appropriateness of the intervention will be measured using the STOPP (Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions) criteria for potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) at 6 months. Medication lists obtained will be compared against electronic medical records (EMRs) by a clinician to establish discrepancies in medications. The clinician will review medications using the validated Medication Appropriateness Index (MAI). This project has been peer-reviewed and selected for support by the Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Services Research Service. The pilot phase of the study was completed December 2021 with 20 veterans and was primarily informed by the Steinman model of the prescribing process adapted to include system- and provider-level factors. The last date of enrollment was August 6, 2021. We anticipate the completion of the ongoing trial in spring 2025. The first results are expected to be submitted for publication in 2025. The cluster RCT will provide evidence on medication management through televisits. If found effective in improving the use of medications, the intervention has the potential to impact older adults with multiple chronic conditions and polypharmacy. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04340570; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04340570. PRR1-10.2196/65141.

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is deploying an automated texting system (aTS) to support patient self-management. We conducted a qualitative evaluation to examine factors influencing national rollout of the aTS, guided by the Nonadoption, Abandonment, Scale-up, Spread, and Sustainability (NASSS) framework, which is intended to support the evaluation of novel technologies. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 33 staff and 38 patients who were early adopters of the aTS. Data were analyzed following deductive and inductive approaches using a priori codes and emergent coding based on the NASSS. We identified themes across NASSS domains: (1) Condition: The aTS was considered relevant for a range of patient needs; however, perceptions of patient suitability were guided by texting experience and clinical complexity rather than potential benefits. (2) Technology: Onboarding of the aTS presented difficulty and the staff had different opinions on incorporating patient-generated data into care planning. (3) Value: Supply-side value relied on the flexibility of the aTS and its impact on staff workload whereas demand-side value was driven by patient perceptions of the psychological and behavioral impacts of the aTS. (4) Adopters: Limited clarity on staff roles and responsibilities presented challenges in incorporating the aTS into clinical processes. (5) Organization: Staff were willing to try the aTS; however, perceptions of leadership support and clinic readiness hindered usage. (6) Wider system: Staff focused on enhancing aTS interoperability with the electronic medical record. (7) Embedding and adaptation over time: The interplay of aTS versatility, patient and staff demands, and broader societal changes in preferences for communicating health information facilitated aTS implementation. VHA's new aTS has the potential to further engage patients and expand the reach of VHA care; however, patients and staff require additional support to adopt, implement, and sustain the aTS. The NASSS highlighted how the aTS can be better embedded into current practices, which patients might benefit most from its functionality, and which aspects of aTS messages are most relevant to self-management. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03898349; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03898349.

BackgroundBetween 12,000 and 16,000 veterans leave incarceration every year, yet resources are limited for reentry support that helps veterans remain connected to VA and community health care and services after leaving incarceration. Homelessness and criminal justice recidivism may result when such follow-up and support are lacking. In order to determine where gaps exist in current reentry support efforts, we developed a novel methodological adaptation of process mapping (a visualization technique being increasingly used in health care to identify gaps in services and linkages) in the context of a larger implementation study of a peer-support intervention to link veterans to health-related services after incarceration (https://clinicaltrials.gov/, NCT02964897, registered November 4, 2016) to support their reentry into the community.MethodsWe employed process mapping to analyze qualitative interviews with staff from organizations providing reentry support. Interview data were used to generate process maps specifying the sequence of events and the multiple parties that connect veterans to post-incarceration services. Process maps were then analyzed for uncertainties, gaps, and bottlenecks.ResultsWe found that reentry programs lack systematic means of identifying soon-to-be released veterans who may become their clients; veterans in prisons/jails, and recently released, lack information about reentry supports and how to access them; and veterans’ whereabouts between their release and their health care appointments are often unknown to reentry and health care teams. These system-level shortcomings informed our intervention development and implementation planning of peer-support services for veterans’ reentry.ConclusionsSystematic information sharing that is inherent to process mapping makes more transparent the research needed, helping to engage participants and operational partners who are critical for successful implementation of interventions to improve reentry support for veterans leaving incarceration. Even beyond our immediate study, process mapping based on qualitative interview data enables visualization of data that is useful for 1) verifying the research team’s interpretation of interviewee’s accounts, 2) specifying the events that occur within processes that the implementation is targeting (identifying knowledge gaps and inefficiencies), and 3) articulating and tracking the pre- to post-implementation changes clearly to support dissemination of evidence-based health care practices for justice-involved populations.

A downward trend in opioid prescribing between 2011 and 2018 has brought per-capita opioid prescriptions below the levels of 2006, the earliest year for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has published data. That trend has affected roughly ten million patients who previously received long-term opioid therapy. Any effort to reduce or replace a prior health practice is termed de-implementation. We suggest that the evaluation of opioid prescribing de-implementation has been misdirected, within US policy and health research, resulting in detrimental impacts on patients, their families and clinicians. Policymakers and implementation scientists can address these deficiencies in how we study and how we perform opioid de-implementation by applying an implementation science framework: the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. The Consolidated Framework lays out relevant domains of activity (internal, external, etc.) that influence implementation processes and outcomes. It can deepen our understanding of how policies are chosen, communicated, and carried out. Policymakers and researchers who embrace this framework will need a better approach to measuring success and failure in health care where both pain and opioids are concerned. This would involve shifting from a reductive focus on opioid prescription counts toward measures that are more effective, holistic, and patient-centered.