New Program Combines Telehealth, Peer Support to Treat Veterans With PTSD

Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston are combining telehealth and peer support to help veterans living with post-traumatic stress disorder.

With funding from the US Army Medical Research and Development Command (USAMRDC), trauma researchers at UTHealth are combining in-person and virtual care to not only improve care outcomes, but help veterans who drop out of treatment for a variety of reasons. Experts estimate that a quarter to half of veterans who seek treatment for PTSD don’t finish the program.

“With telehealth sessions, patients don’t have to worry about needing transportation to their appointment, or how far away their provider is, or being seen entering a mental health clinic,” Melba Hernandez-Tejada, PhD, DHA, associate professor in the Louis A. Faillace, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, said in a press release issued by the school. “ When those obstacles are removed, they can just focus on their treatment and getting the help they need to get better.”

According to the US government, 17 percent of veterans who served in active combat report symptoms of PTSD. Symptoms can run the gamut from mild to extremely debilitating, and the VA now reports that the percentages of veterans committing suicide has rising almost 26 percent in 15 years.

PTSD has been traditionally difficult to treat due to a lack of resources and the stigma surrounding veterans and mental health treatment. With that in mind, healthcare providers are using a variety of connected health platforms, ranging from telehealth sessions to mHealth apps, to boost access to care and give providers a better idea of what their patients are going through.

At UTHealth, Hernandez-Tejada and her colleagues are combining telehealth with a program that pairs patients with volunteer peers who have successfully completed PTSD exposure therapy and are no longer symptomatic.

“It’s the same concept as having a workout buddy who encourages you to exert yourself, but for PTSD the therapy homework can sometimes involve things like going to places that are realistically safe, but trigger anxiety, like a crowded store or a movie theater,” she said in the press release. “The patients can work on those situations that trigger their PTSD symptoms gradually, in stages of increasing difficulty, accompanied by their peer while supervised by the therapist. If their anxiety is triggered by going to a place like the grocery store at an hour when it’s crowded, they might start with driving to the store and sitting in the parking lot, and then getting out of the car and walking to the door before going inside, and then going inside, etc.” 

Hernandez-Tejada said she hopes the combination of telehealth and in-person therapy will not only help more veterans, but give healthcare providers and VA officials more insight into how to treat them and more options for helping them.

“PTSD patients benefit by social support in treatment, and it is always important to learn more about what their triggers are and what can be done to support them in confronting these triggers both during and after treatment,” she said.