Honest, Open, Proud (HOP): A Peer Delivered, Co-occurring Disorders Intervention for Justice-involved Veterans

Background: Justice-involved Veterans (JIVs) are highlighted as a highly vulnerable Veteran subgroup, and as many as two-thirds of JIVs have SUD, and up to 51% have a MH condition. However, fewer than one-third of JIVs receive MH or SUD treatment and addressing stigma is a recommended strategy for improving Veteran willingness to engage in treatment. Moreover, self-stigma prevents Veterans from asking for help or engaging in ongoing care. The connection between internalized self-stigma and lack of accessing care or support services impairs Veterans recovery. Interventions grounded in evidence-based, peer-led practices are effective in increasing access to and engagement in care; however, implementation of such strategies are costly and intensive. This study protocol describes a Hybrid Type III effectiveness-implementation trial of Honest, Open, Proud (HOP) with high-need, justice-involved Veterans and will evaluate the impact and cost of a high intensity (vs. low-intensity) strategy on implementation, maintenance, and sustainment outcomes.

Methods: This quality improvement (QI) project involves a Hybrid Type III implementation effectiveness trial in six VA medical centers across the United States. Sites will begin with a 6-month pre-implementation period (e.g., orientation) to examine organizational readiness to adopt VA-HOP (Aim 1). A pre-post pragmatic trial with enhancements to accommodate possible growth trends with features of an interrupted time series in which VJP staff at each site will be offered 6-months of audit and feedback (lower-intensity implementation support) followed by 6-months of implementation facilitation (higher-intensity implementation support) for promoting VA-HOP implementation by VJP staff (Aim 2). The investigators will examine whether the Veterans served by staff who delivered VA-HOP with greater model fidelity will demonstrate an increase in outpatient specialty care days, reductions in emergency department use, and reductions in suicide risk compared to Veterans who received VA-HOP with lower fidelity (Aim 3). Finally, this study will examine implementation erosion and sustainment of VA-HOP following discontinuation of active implementation support (for 9-months after high intensity support ends) using quantitative implementation outcomes and post-implementation qualitative interviews (Aim 4).

Anticipated Impact: This study will provide information on the relative impacts and relative costs of strategies aimed at implementing a peer-led, stigma reduction intervention for justice-involved Veterans with co-occurring SUD and MH disorders. The findings will provide guidance to VA and other healthcare systems that serve justice-involved Veterans with co-occurring disorders.

Inclusion criteria

• Veterans who are service-connected and enrolled in a VJP program within six VA Medical Centers:

• Fresno, Palo Alto, Butler, Coatesville, Pittsburgh, Wilmington, and therefore have justice involvement
• Veterans who meet DSM-5 criteria for a mental health and/or substance use disorder
• Veterans who are willing to participate in VA-HOP

Exclusion criteria

• Does not have a history of justice involvement and or not enrolled in a participating site VJP program
• Do not have a mental health and/or substance use disorder diagnosis