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Development and refinement of a clinician intervention to facilitate primary care patient use of the PTSD Coach app

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Translational Behavioral Medicine

An Erratum to this article was published on 27 May 2016

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common and undertreated among Veterans Affairs (VA) primary care patients. A brief primary care intervention combining clinician support with a self-management mobile app (Clinician-Supported PTSD Coach, CS-PTSD Coach) may improve patient outcomes. This study developed and refined an intervention to provide clinician support to facilitate use of the PTSD Coach app and gathered VA provider and patient qualitative and quantitative feedback on CS-PTSD Coach to investigate preliminary acceptability and implementation barriers/facilitators. VA primary care providers and mental health leadership (N = 9) completed a survey and interview regarding implementation barriers and facilitators structured according to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Clinicians who delivered CS-PTSD Coach (N = 3) and patients (N = 9) who received it provided feedback on the intervention and implementation process. CS-PTSD Coach has high provider and patient acceptability. Important implementation factors included that CS-PTSD Coach be compatible with the clinics’ current practices, have low complexity to implement, be perceived to address patient needs, and have strong support from leadership. Diverse factors related to CS-PTSD Coach delivery facilitate implementation, provide an opportunity to problem-solve barriers, and improve integration of the intervention into primary care.

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Acknowledgments

This manuscript is based upon work supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Health Administration, Office of Research and Development, Mental Health Quality Enhancement Research Initiative and the Center for Integrated Healthcare.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Integrated Healthcare, Syracuse VA Medical Center, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Kyle Possemato, Emily M. Johnson & Emily Brooks

  2. National Center for PTSD (NCPTSD), Dissemination and Training Division, Department of Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Livermore, CA, 94550, USA

    Eric Kuhn & Julia E. Hoffman

Authors
  1. Kyle Possemato
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  2. Eric Kuhn
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  3. Emily M. Johnson
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  4. Julia E. Hoffman
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  5. Emily Brooks
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emily M. Johnson.

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Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policy of the Department of Veterans Affairs or the United States government.

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Implications

Practice: Consideration of implementation factors, specifically compatibility with the treatment setting, the ability of the intervention to address patient needs, leadership engagement, provider knowledge, and beliefs about the intervention, may facilitate implementation of behavioral health interventions.

Policy: Policymakers and administrators should foster environments that encourage implementation of novel approaches and support of interventions that combine clinician support with technology-based resources.

Research: Our results encourage further research on patient and implementation outcomes associated with CS-PTSD Coach and other technology facilitated interventions.

An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0415-7.

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Possemato, K., Kuhn, E., Johnson, E.M. et al. Development and refinement of a clinician intervention to facilitate primary care patient use of the PTSD Coach app. Behav. Med. Pract. Policy Res. 7, 116–126 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0393-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13142-016-0393-9

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