The Defense Health Agency is introducing a new approach at behavioral health clinics, called targeted care, to help improve access to mental health resources.
Targeted care refers service members and other beneficiaries to the clinical or non-clinical mental health resources best suited to support their needs, offering earlier interventions and promoting force resilience and readiness.
Pivoting off an Air Force Medical Service model with a vision to expand it across all military hospitals and clinics, DHA conducted a six-month targeted care pilot at 10 military behavioral health clinics. The pilot ran from April to October 2023.
Results from the pilot found that about 40% of individuals who contacted outpatient behavioral health clinics at the pilot sites did not require medical intervention or have a diagnosable mental health condition; however, they would benefit from other mental health services.
Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri was the first base within the Air Force Global Strike Command to fully roll out targeted care after a pilot phase, said Whiteman Mental Health Flight Commander U.S. Air Force Maj. Callie Cooper, a doctor of clinical psychology.
Its benefits quickly became apparent, said Cooper, with “notable reductions” in patients receiving off-base mental health referrals. There were 180 airmen referred off base before Whiteman started targeted care in the fall of 2022, and only 40 in the year after implementation. For those patients not referred off base, targeted care assessed the patient’s needs and, where appropriate, referred them to on-base services for immediate support.
Targeted care reduced wait times, created prompt access to specialty mental health services, and lowered provider caseloads, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Oliver Bauer, a doctor of psychology and a staff clinical psychologist in Whiteman’s mental health clinic.
Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri was the first base within the Air Force Global Strike Command to fully roll out targeted care after a pilot phase, said Whiteman Mental Health Flight Commander U.S. Air Force Maj. Callie Cooper, a doctor of clinical psychology.
Its benefits quickly became apparent, said Cooper, with “notable reductions” in patients receiving off-base mental health referrals. There were 180 airmen referred off base before Whiteman started targeted care in the fall of 2022, and only 40 in the year after implementation. For those patients not referred off base, targeted care assessed the patient’s needs and, where appropriate, referred them to on-base services for immediate support.
Targeted care reduced wait times, created prompt access to specialty mental health services, and lowered provider caseloads, said U.S. Air Force Capt. Oliver Bauer, a doctor of psychology and a staff clinical psychologist in Whiteman’s mental health clinic.
Since then, there have been a number of MHS early adopters of targeted care in the U.S. and overseas. These early adopters may serve as models for successfully rolling out targeted care across all MHS hospitals and clinics by 2025.
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