Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39081876›Full record

ArticleSubstance abuse and rehabilitation2024

The Road to Reintegration: Evaluating the Effectiveness of VA Healthcare in Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Retention for Veterans with Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders.

Matthew E Sprong, Heaven Hollender, Bob Blankenberger, Stuart Rumrill, Yu-Sheng Lee, Travis Bland, Jeremiah Bailey, Kenneth Weber, James Gilbert, Ken Kriz and 1 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Matthew E SprongEdward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center, Hines, IL, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6867-252X
Heaven HollenderIndiana University Indianapolis, School of Health & Human Sciences, Indianapolis, IN, USA.
Bob BlankenbergerUniversity of Illinois Springfield, School of Public Management and Policy, Springfield, IL, USA.
Stuart RumrillUniverity of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, Champaign, IL, USA.
Yu-Sheng LeeUniversity of Illinois Springfield, School of Integrated Sciences, Sustainability, and Public Health, Springfield, IL, USA.
Travis BlandUniversity of Illinois Springfield, School of Public Management and Policy, Springfield, IL, USA.
Jeremiah BaileyFlorida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Tallahassee, FL, USA.
Kenneth WeberEdward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center, Hines, IL, USA.
James GilbertEdward Hines Jr. VA Medical Center, Hines, IL, USA.
Ken KrizUniversity of Illinois Springfield, School of Public Management and Policy, Springfield, IL, USA.
Frank D BuonoYale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Veterans diagnosed with mental health and/or substance use disorders (SUD) often face significant barriers to employment and reintegration into civilian society. In the current study, we investigated whether how the VA healthcare system for mental health and/or SUD treatment predicted program enrollment into vocational rehabilitation, simultaneous mental health and/or SUD treatment while enrolled in vocational rehabilitation predicted employment at discharge, and mental health and/or SUD treatment continues and employment remain 60-days-post-vocational-rehabilitation discharge. Methods: An outcome-based, summative program evaluation design to measure quality assurance of vocational rehabilitation services provided to 402 veteran patients enrolled in a VA healthcare located within the Great Lakes Health Care System - Veterans Integrated Services Network. Results: Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed psychological empowerment (confidence in one's ability to work or find work) is a significant factor determining whether a veteran is enrolled in the vocational rehabilitation program, prior mental health treatment (yes/no) and frequency of mental health treatment did not predict program enrollment, and frequency of SUD VA system treatment 60 days prior did not predict program enrollment. Other findings showed that simultaneous mental health and/or SUD treatment while enrolled in vocational rehabilitation did not predict employment at discharge, and employment at discharge did not predict continued mental health and/or SUD treatment post-discharge from vocational rehabilitation. However, veterans with both SUD and mental health and continued mental health treatment were less likely to be employed. Conclusion: Utilization of real-world program evaluation data from an actual VHA vocational rehabilitation program enhances the study's ecological validity, offering practical implications for policymakers and practitioners in the field. The findings support the importance of veterans enrolling in mental health and/or SUD treatment simultaneously while enrolled in vocational rehabilitation services, as integrating vocational rehabilitation with mental health and SUD treatment services can lead to improved vocational and health outcomes for veterans (eg, development of targeted interventions to support veterans' successful reintegration into the workforce and society).

Indexed as

health administrationmental healthsubstance use disorderstreatment accessveteransveterans affairsvocational rehabilitation

Identifiers

PMID39081876
PMCPMC11287469

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.