Enhancing Community Integration for Homeless Veterans

加强无家可归退伍军人的社区融合

• 批准号: 8887042
• 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/8887042
• 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; Research; Research Infrastructure; Research Personnel; Research Project Grants; Risk; Schools; Services; Talents; Training; Translational Research; Veterans; Work; base; cognitive neuroscience; data management; improved; innovation; 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.

 产品说明： 退伍军人无家可归是一个普遍的，令人烦恼的问题，也是国家一级的紧急优先事项。退伍军人事务部制定了一个目标，在5年内（即到2015年）防止和消除退伍军人无家可归。这是一个重要的目标，因为退伍军人在无家可归者中的比例过高（16%对8%的非退伍军人）。退伍军人管理局利用支持性住房等模式，在退伍军人住房方面取得了实质性进展。例如，在2010年至2013年期间，无家可归的退伍军人人数减少了24%。尽管在为退伍军人提供住房方面取得了重大进展，但一个根本问题仍然存在。永久住房是成功融入社区的必要条件，但不是充分条件。社区融合的定义是：1）社会融合（即，与家人和朋友的联系）和2）工作融合（在工作或学校保持生产活动）。提供住房只是促进无家可归的退伍军人恢复的第一步;一旦有了住房，他们将需要不同类型的援助来融入社区。一旦提供住房，社区融合并不会自动产生。因此，我们提出了一个研究增强奖计划（REAP）的应用程序链接到无家可归的方案在VA大洛杉矶医疗保健系统（GLA）作为一个跨学科的中心，以产生干预和转化研究，以改善无家可归的退伍军人的社区融合。REAP将填补一个关键的空白：而不是专注于退伍军人无家可归的风险因素（一个已经被广泛研究的复杂问题），我们将把我们小组的技能应用于被忽视的退伍军人社区融合问题一旦住房已经提供。它将吸引和发展临床研究人员和受训人员，他们将把精力集中在这个关键问题上。REAP将设在GLA，自2006财政年度以来，GLA已为34,000名无家可归的退伍军人提供服务，其中包括每年4,000名新的无家可归的退伍军人，并拥有全国最大的退伍军人事务部无家可归者计划。该REAP的使命是了解和改善无家可归的退伍军人的社区融合。这一使命包括几个组成部分：研究：该REAP将支持：1）使用认知神经科学方法和概念的转化研究，以了解无家可归的退伍军人在提供住房后的工作和社会融合的决定因素，以及2）干预研究，以严格评估随机对照试验的创新治疗方法，以提高这些人的社区融合。 培训内容：该REAP将鼓励博士后研究员和初级研究人员将他们的专业人才集中在退伍军人无家可归和社区融合的主题上。这一目标将通过试点赠款计划和多学科指导来实现。 为新项目提供便利：拟议的REAP将为独立赠款申请提供支持。未来的应用将受益于REAP的基础设施，如招募途径，以及临床试验方法，结果研究以及认知和社会神经科学方面的罕见专业知识。为了促进新项目的开发，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）为未来的应用提供数据管理和统计支持。