CREDITS

Funding for this work was provided by: This project was supported by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Health Services Research & Development (SDR 13-227 & FOP-15-001).

Erika Cottrell

Erika Cottrell, PhD, MPP is Principal Investigator on this project and Vice Chair of the Health Experiences Research Network, the United States Database of Individual Patient Experiences (DIPEx) initiative. She conducted all of the interviews for this module and led the data analysis and writing process. Erika is trained as a sociologist and holds a faculty appointment at Oregon Health & Science University.

Mark Helfand

Mark Helfand, MD, MPH is co-Principal Investigator on this project and served as clinical lead and “coding buddy.” He was involved in all phases of the study, from obtaining the original funding, to recruitment, to reviewing and editing the final summaries. Dr. Helfand is trained in Internal Medicine and practices at the Portland VA Medical Center. He is a founding member of the Health Experiences Research Network.

Lauren Tarlow, MS

Lauren Tarlow, MS is the Research Associate on this project. She was involved from the very start, attended almost all of the interviews, participated in analysis and writing, and beautifully managed the arduous task of cutting all of the video clips for the module.

Sara Dolen

Sara Dolen is the Project Coordinator on this project. Sara stepped into this role mid-way and expertly managed the recruitment of Veterans outside of the Portland area, kept our analysis and coding process running smoothly, and managed the IRB and approval process from start to finish.

Special thanks go out to the following individuals and groups who advised our team throughout the process of recruitment, analysis, and module production:

Joan Ash, PhD, MLS, MA, MBA is Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Medical Informatics and Clinical Epidemiology, Oregon Health & Science University. Dr. Ash was instrumental in launching this project and provided critical leadership during the pilot phase of establishing the feasibility of collecting Veterans stories.                                              

Kathleen Carlson, MS, PhD is Core Investigator at the Center to Improvement Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC), a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center of Innovation (COIN), located at VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS). Dr. Carlson advised on recruitment and maximum variation sampling strategies.

The Center to Improvement Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) Veteran Engagement Group advised on recruitment, topic summary development, and dissemination strategies.

The Center to Improvement Veteran Involvement in Care (CIVIC) offered ongoing guidance, feedback, and support throughout all phases of the project.

Bobby Ehrig, an Army Veteran who has dedicated his life to helping Veterans and their families both on and off the battlefield, advised on recruitment and outreach.

Shammarie Mathis worked tirelessly to raise awareness about this study, recruit Veterans from a variety of backgrounds to share their story, and brought a critical eye to the analysis process.

Portland State Veterans Resource Center provided invaluable assistance in recruiting Veterans outside of the VA health care system.

Ed Reid and Helen Helfand provided invaluable editorial assistance, reviewed topic summaries, and brought a fresh outside perspective to the final product.

Lucas Newman, MS reviewed all video clips and designed the prototype website for this module.

Maya O’Neil, PhD is a practicing neuropsychologist and Core Investigator at the Center to Improvement Veteran Involvement in Care, a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Health Services Research & Development (HSR&D) Center of Innovation (COIN), located at VA Portland Health Care System (VAPORHCS). Dr. O’Neil reviewed interviews, advised on topic summary development, and provided invaluable clinical expertise.

Three of our Veteran participants graciously agreed to review topic summaries and provide feedback on the final product.