Enhancing Mental and Physical Health of Women Through Engagement and Retention (EMPOWER) 3.0 (QUE 25-015)
VA Office of Research and Development
Summary
Women Veterans are the fastest growing segment of VA users, with most users in midlife. This dramatic growth has created challenges for VA to ensure that appropriate services are available to meet women Veterans' needs, and that they will want and be able to use those services. Furthermore, few VA improvement efforts have focused on women Veterans' health and health care in midlife. The EMPOWER QUERI 3.0 Program is a cluster randomized type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial testing two strategies designed to support implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices for women Veterans in at least 18 VA facilities from 4 regions.
Description
Women Veterans are the fastest growing group of Veterans Health Administration (VA) users. Of the 528,424 women Veterans who used VA care in FY19, nearly half were in midlife (aged 45-64). A growing number of studies identify gaps in health care for women Veterans in this life stage, during which menopause typically occurs, 49% of women Veterans meet criteria for obesity, and the risk of chronic disease increases dramatically. Furthermore, women Veterans have a high burden of trauma and physical and mental health comorbidities, which may exacerbate menopause symptoms and chronic disease risk a…
Eligibility
- Age range
- Not specified
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * This study is recruiting VA sites - not individual patients. * Prior to randomization, the study team will work with sites to ensure they have met the preconditions necessary to enroll in the study, which includes VISN, regional and/or facility level leadership support for participation. Exclusion Criteria: * N/A
Interventions
- BehavioralEBQI Booster (EBQI/B)
EBQI is a systematic quality improvement method for engaging frontline practices in improvement that introduces "best science" and evidence in the service of operational goals. EBQI has been tested in several VA implementation trials and the VA Office of Women's Health (OWH) recently conducted a large-scale roll out of EBQI across VA women's health. Sites randomized to EBQI/B will receive a two-hour EBQI Booster delivered virtually to site-identified QI champions and local implementation teams for each EBP reviewing key EBQI components and providing examples grounded in the EBPs.
- BehavioralEBQI Booster + External Facilitation (EBQI/B+EF)
EBQI is a systematic quality improvement method for engaging frontline practices in improvement that introduces "best science" and evidence in the service of operational goals. EBQI has been tested in several VA implementation trials and the VA Office of Women's Health (OWH) recently conducted a large-scale roll out of EBQI across VA women's health. External facilitation (EF) delivered by an expert facilitator from outside of the local implementation site, offers a supportive coaching process in which facilitators encourage interactive problem-solving in improvement efforts. EF is one of the most-studied implementation strategies. Sites randomized to EBQI/B+EF will receive a two-hour EBQI Booster delivered virtually to site-identified QI champions and local implementation teams for each EBP reviewing key EBQI components and providing examples grounded in the EBPs, plus 12 months of EF.
Location
- VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, West Los Angeles, CAWest Los Angeles, California