Patient Acceptability, Use, and Recommendations to Improve Interventions Delivered in Primary Care Behavioral Health

• Published in: Professional psychology, research and practice Vol. 54; no. 2; pp. 188 - 195
• Main Authors: King, Paul R., Beehler, Gregory P., VanTreese, Katharine, Johnson, Emily M., Buchholz, Laura J., Wray, Laura O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington American Psychological Association 01-04-2023
• Subjects: Client Attitudes; Coherence; Emotional responses; Female; Health behavior; Health Care Psychology; Human; Integrated Services; Intervention; Male; Military Veterans; Outpatient; Patient communication; Patient-centered care; Patients; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Skills; Treatment Compliance; Veterans; survey; mixed methods; Veterans; integrated primary care; acceptability
• ISSN: 0735-7028; 1939-1323
• DOI: 10.1037/pro0000493

Intervention acceptability is a multifaceted concept that results from an individual's cognitive and emotional responses to an intervention. Though often inferred, little research to date supports the assumption of acceptability of abbreviated psychological interventions as implemented in integrated primary care settings. This study aimed to characterize patients' appraisals of acceptability through a mailed survey with Likert-type ratings of intervention coherence, satisfaction, and personal use of strategies, and open-text responses on ways to improve intervention strategies. Participants included 281 Veterans who received integrated primary care services within the Department of Veterans Affairs, of whom 144 provided qualitative feedback. Data were analyzed using a complementary mixed-method paradigm. Results suggested that patients found integrated primary care interventions to be acceptable on the whole, though personal barriers in independently using intervention strategies were frequently cited. Implications to address barriers to knowledge and skill transfer are discussed in the context of patient-centered psychological care.
Public Significance Statement
Primary care behavioral health, an increasingly popular model of primary care-mental health integration, offers access to brief, often time-limited psychological care within the primary care environment. Results from this survey study support that psychological interventions implemented in real-world primary care behavioral health settings are acceptable to patients and point to practical strategies to maintain and potentially improve acceptability.