Mental Health Clinician / Chaplain Collaboration

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the intervention can be delivered by VA chaplains and if it is acceptable for veterans who have symptoms of moral injury (guilt, shame, isolation) and are receiving VA mental health treatment. The main questions it aims to answer are: Can the study team enroll veterans for this intervention and complete data collection? Will veterans complete the intervention? There is no comparison group. Participants will will complete a baseline and 6-month interview and participate in up to 12 intervention sessions with a VA chaplain. The intervention will focus on facilitating forgiveness and community connection.

Detailed Description

Moral injury symptoms include guilt, shame, and self-isolation. Moral injury is also associated with increased suicide risk. Moral injury symptoms are common in Veterans being treated for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or substance use disorder (SUD) and current treatments do not always improve these symptoms. The Mental Health Clinician / Chaplain Collaboration (MC3) intervention is delivered by VA chaplains who facilitate forgiveness and community reintegration. MC3 is a collaboration between resources in the mental health clinic, chaplain service, and community to support moral injury symptom recovery. Specific Aims: 1. Pre-implementation: Adapt the intervention that was originally delivered by community clergy for delivery by VA chaplains. Stakeholders in this process will include VA chaplains and mental health clinicians at the Little Rock and Pittsburgh VAMCs. 2. Conduct a single arm pilot study (total N = 20 across 2 sites) of the MC3 intervention to assess feasibility, acceptability, and fidelity (primary outcomes). 3. Post-implementation: Conduct a formative evaluation with stakeholders of the recruitment methods, MC3 intervention, and outcome measures. This information will be used to refine the MC3 intervention and study procedures for a subsequent RCT. Methodology: The study design is a two site one arm trial. The population is Veterans being treated in specialty mental health or substance use disorder clinics who have symptoms of moral injury. MC3 will be delivered by VA chaplains who will facilitate forgiveness and community reintegration. The primary outcomes are feasibility and acceptability. Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected at baseline and 6-months (end of intervention). Evidence-based quality improvement methods will be used to implement MC3 at the Little Rock and Pittsburgh VA Medical Centers.

Eligibility Criteria

Interventions