Building Capacity, Community, and Culture to Care for Veterans in Southwest Alabama

Claudia S.P. Fernandez

A chapter in From Clinical Practice to Public Health Applications - The Successful, Sustainable and Scalable Outcomes of the Clinical Scholars Program from IntechOpen

Abstract: Defined as persons who served in the U.S. military for at least 1 day, one in 10 persons living along the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida identifies as a veteran. A substantial number of these individuals suffer from mental health and/or substance misuse. Many of these veterans do not seek the services they need due to mistrust in the system, inaccessibility, or because they do not qualify for benefits through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The deficiencies that exist in healthcare services tailored to the veteran population specifically in Southwest Alabama propelled the development of Veterans Recovery Resources (VRR). In May 2023, VRR rebranded their organization and is now known as Vets Recover. Adding peer support and incorporating community input into evidence-based clinical care, our non-profit organization endeavored to restore mental and physical well-being to veterans and their family members and, later, expanded their services to first responders. The Veterans Recovery Resources team leveraged the expertise of its professional peer support specialists, medical providers, and mental health clinicians to provide evidence-based, trauma-informed, mental health services integrated with primary care for the community.

Keywords: veteran; peer support; integrated care; trauma-informed; substance use disorders; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); community health; Clinical Scholars (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ito:pchaps:330920

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.115607

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