Enhancing Community Integration for Homeless Veterans

加强无家可归退伍军人的社区融合

• 批准号: 9475101
• 负责人: Michael F. Green
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: VA GREATER LOS ANGELES HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-05-01 至 2020-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9475101
• 关键词: Award; Clinical; Clinical Trials; Collection; Communities; Community Integration; Complex; Development; Family; Friends; Future; Goals; Grant; Healthcare Systems; Homelessness; Housing; Individual; Intervention Studies; Link; Los Angeles; Mentorship; Methodology; Methods; Mission; Modeling; Outcomes Research; Participant; Pathway interactions; Postdoctoral Fellow; Program Research Project Grants; Randomized Controlled Trials; Recovery; Recruitment Activity; Research; Research Infrastructure; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Research Training; Risk; Schools; Services; Talents; Training; Translational Research; Veterans; Work; base; cognitive neuroscience; data management; improved; innovation; multidisciplinary; neglect; once housed; prevent; programs; public health relevance; skills; social integration; social neuroscience; supported housing; translational study

 DESCRIPTION: Homelessness in Veterans is a widespread, vexing problem, and an urgent priority at the national level. The VA set a goal to prevent and eliminate homelessness in Veterans within 5 years (that is, by 2015). This is an important goal because Veterans are greatly overrepresented among the homeless (16% versus 8% non- Veterans). Using models such as supportive housing, the VA has made substantial progress in housing Veterans. For example, between 2010 and 2013, the number of homeless Veterans decreased by 24%. Despite this substantial progress in providing housing for Veterans, a fundamental problem remains. Permanent housing is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for successful community integration. Community integration is defined in terms of: 1) social integration (i.e., contact with family and friends) and 2) work integration (maintaining productive activities in work or school). Providing housing is only the first step in facilitating recovery among homeless Veterans; once housed, they will need different types of assistance to integrate into communities. Community integration does not arise automatically once housing is provided. Hence, we propose a Research Enhancement Award Program (REAP) application linked to the homeless programs at VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (GLA) to serve as an interdisciplinary center to generate intervention and translational research to improve community integration for homeless Veterans. The REAP will fill a critical gap: Rather than focusing on factors that confer risk for homelessness in Veterans (a complex question already being widely studied), we will instead apply our group's skills to the neglected problem of community integration for Veterans once housing has been provided. It will attract and develop clinical researchers and trainees who will focus their energies on this critical problem. The REAP will be based at GLA, which has served 34,000 homeless Veterans since FY 2006, including 4,000 new homeless Veterans each year, and has the largest homeless program of any VA in the nation. The mission of this REAP is to understand and to improve community integration in homeless Veterans. This mission consists of several components: Research: This REAP will support: 1) translational studies using cognitive neuroscience methods and concepts to understand the determinants of work and social integration in homeless Veterans after housing is provided, and 2) intervention studies to rigorously evaluate with randomized controlled trials innovative treatments to enhance community integration for these individuals. Training: This REAP will encourage postdoctoral fellows and junior investigators to focus their professional talents on the topic of homelessness and community integration in Veterans. This goal will be accomplished by the Pilot Grant Program and through multi-disciplinary mentorship. Facilitation for new projects: The proposed REAP will provide support for independent grant submissions. Future applications will benefit from the REAP infrastructure, such as recruitment pathways, and a rare collection of expertise in clinical trial methodology, outcomes research, and cognitive and social neuroscience. To facilitate the development of new projects, the REAP will provide services to projects, including: 1) recruitment and assessment of participants for all REAP research projects; and 2) data management and statistical support for future applications.

 描述： 退伍军人的无家可归是一个普遍，令人烦恼的问题，也是国家一级的紧急问题。 VA设定了预防和消除退伍军人在5年内无家可归的目标（即到2015年）。这是一个重要的目标，因为在无家可归者中，退伍军人的代表性大大过多（16％对8％的非退伍军人）。使用诸如支持住房之类的模型，VA在住房退伍军人方面取得了重大进展。例如，在2010年至2013年之间，无家可归的退伍军人人数下降了24％。尽管在为退伍军人提供住房方面取得了重大进展，但仍然存在一个基本问题。永久性住房是成功的社区融合的必要条件，但不足。社区融合的定义是：1）社会融合（即与家人和朋友接触）和2）工作集成（维护工作或学校中的产品活动）。提供住房只是支持无家可归退伍军人恢复的第一步；一旦被安置，他们将需要不同类型的援助才能融入社区。一旦提供住房，就不会自动出现社区整合。因此，我们提出了一项研究增强奖计划（REAP）的应用程序，该计划与VA大洛杉矶医疗保健系统（GLA）相关的无家可归计划相关，以作为一个跨学科中心，以生成干预和翻译研究，以改善无家可归者的社区融合。收获将填补一个关键的空白：而不是专注于会议在退伍军人中无家可归的风险（这是一个已经广泛研究的一个复杂问题），而是将团队的技能应用于一旦提供住房的被忽视的社区融合问题。它将吸引和发展临床研究人员和学员，他们将精力集中在这个关键问题上。收获将设在GLA，自2006年以来一直为34,000名无家可归者提供服务，其中包括4,000名新的无家可归者退伍军人，并且拥有美国任何VA中最大的无家可归者计划。这种收获的使命是了解和改善无家可归者的社区融合。该任务由几个组成部分组成：研究：此转化将支持：1）使用认知神经科学方法和概念进行翻译研究，以了解住房后无家可归退伍军人的工作和社会融合的确定，以及2）干预研究，以对这些个人的社区整合进行随机对照试验进行严格评估。培训：这种收获将鼓励博士后研究员和初级调查人员将其专业才能集中在退伍军人中无家可归和社区融合的话题上。该目标将由试点赠款计划和多学科心态实现。新项目的便利：拟议的REAP将为独立的赠款提交提供支持。未来的应用将受益于REAP基础设施，例如招聘途径，以及在临床试验方法，结果研究以及认知和社会神经科学方面的罕见专业知识。为了促进新项目的发展，REAP将为项目提供服务，包括：1）招募和评估所有REAP研究项目的参与者； 2）数据管理和未来应用程序的统计支持。