Focused Areas of Research
The Social and Community Reintegration Research (SoCRR) Program addresses a critical goal for the VA: the full reintegration of Veterans in domains identified as central to community participation by the World Health Organization. Community Integration/Reintegration, including vocational, educational, and social rehabilitation are also defined as high priority areas for VA’s Rehabilitation Research & Development (RR&D) program. The SoCRR program brings together a diverse group of VA researchers from the Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital, Bedford, MA, their academic affiliates (Boston University School of Medicine, UMass Medical School, and Northeastern University), and their non-VA colleagues, as a consortium to address the urgent need to build capacity for high quality research in the priority area of community reintegration for Veterans. Our research focus is to design new interventions that improve Veterans' community reintegration across 1) vocational and educational domains, and 2) social relationships including families, thus fostering more independent daily living of Veterans in their communities.
At a State of the Art (SOTA) Conference held by VA RR&D in January of 2010, workgroups formulated research agendas for RR&D in the areas of community reintegration. The resulting recommendations represent the foundation for the current proposed REAP. Despite a great deal of investment in community reintegration services and research, treatment outcomes remain modest and could be greatly improved. To achieve the goal of community integration for all Veterans, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) must find new proactive strategies that engage these Veterans in needed treatment before their community involvement is eroded by the effects of untreated mental illness or distress. Progress over the past two decades supports the conclusion that greater investment in high quality research focusing on developing, evaluating and disseminating effective interventions to promote community engagement is key to increasing the success rates of rehabilitation services with new and existing Veteran populations. Our research efforts are focused on developing pilot research projects that support greater engagement in two focus areas: (1) Education and Employment and (2) Family and Social Functioning.
Education & Employment
PILOT PROJECT #1 Promoting the Reintegration of Post 9/11 Student Veterans by Enhancing Academic Performance and Treatment Engagement
Family & Social Functioning
PILOT PROJECT #3 Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Improving Social Support in Veterans with PTSD
