Article Correctness Is Author's Responsibility: Functional concerns and treatment priorities among veterans receiving VHA Primary Care Behavioral Health services.

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Introduction: The Primary Careâ€"Mental Health Integration program is a component of the Veterans Health Administration's patient-centered medical home, which emphasizes comprehensive, patient-centered care. One model of primary careâ€"mental health integration, known as Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH), positions trained behavioral health providers as members of the primary care team. Whereas patient perspectives are essential to effective patient-centered care, little empirical information exists regarding patients' goals and priorities for addressing their biopsychosocial concerns in PCBH. Method: A regional mail survey of Veterans Health Administration patients was used. We collected data from 281 veterans (27% response rate) who received PCBH services in a northeastern region. Results: Respondents identified difficulty with sleep (80%), low energy/amotivation (78%), and managing stress (72%) as the most prevalent individual concerns, although the majority endorsed concerns in multiple domains of functioning. Overwhelmingly, patients who endorsed any biopsychosocial problem area reported that they did (53â€"93%) or would like to (56â€"81%) address that concern with a behavioral health provider. Respondents most frequently identified anger as a top priority for future care, followed by stress management, energy/motivation, and sleep disturbance. Whereas sample means signaled neutral or better quality of life in most individual domains, total Quality of Life Inventory scores suggested very low (32%) to average (30%) overall quality-of -life ratings for most participants. Discussion: In addition to symptom-focused PCBH assessments, providers should gather biopsychosocial data to identify and monitor functional and quality-of -life concerns and evaluate patient preferences in addressing these concerns over the course of clinical care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)