Operation Reentry North Carolina:Veteran Resiliency and Reintegration through Technology (ORNC: R&R) Grant uri icon

abstract

  • Military veterans (veterans) are at a significantly high risk for substance abuse and co-occurring mental health disorders. This risk is compounded by the facts that veterans and their families (a) have a significantly greater chance of experiencing a homeless episode, (b) are more likely to experience these issues when representing minority sub-populations such as racial/ethnic, gender, and/or sexual orientation minorities, and (c) are unlikely or unable to seek treatment due to a number of barriers including stigma or residing in a rural area. Thus, the mission of ORNC: R&R is to strengthen the resiliency and facilitate the reintegration of veterans through creative and innovative uses of technology. Our project will focus on veterans struggling with substance abuse and co-occurring mental health issues who live in rural, eastern North Carolina. Eastern North Carolina (NC) is an epicenter for these issues. First, six major military bases are located in four rural, eastern NC counties and approximately 125,000 veterans reside in and around these bases. Second, eastern NC is rural, and rife with poverty, unemployment and limited treatment resources specific to veterans and their families. The goals of ORNC: R&R will include (a) deployment of a clinical team in a technology equipped van in rural, eastern NC to conduct mobile outreach to veterans who are homeless or under-served, (b) coordinate services with the Veterans Affairs homeless and rural health programs and community-based treatment providers and resources, (c) provide state-of-the-art, evidence-based interventions via telehealth, web- and application-based service delivery systems, and (d) share these practices and the results of our project with providers in rural, eastern NC. ORNC R&R?s technology-delivered interventions will be based on motivational interviewing, biofeedback training, community reinforcement approach, telepsychiatry consultation, relational health consultation, and vocational counseling. The objectives of ORNC: R&R include (a) increasing the number of veterans and their families who access medical, psychiatric, and behavioral health services, (b) reducing substance use and symptoms of co-occurring mental health disorders (e.g., suicide, post-traumatic stress, depression, etc.), (c) reducing the number of veterans and their families experiencing a homeless episode, (d) increasing their social and vocational functioning, and (e) measuring the impact of the use of technology-based delivery mechanisms on these objectives.

date/time interval

  • October 2013 - April 2017