Chaplaincy and Mental Health in the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense

Authors

Jason A. Nieuwsma, Duke University Medical CenterFollow
Jeffrey E. Rhodes, Creative Computing Solutions, Inc., Contract Support for Population Health, Deployment Health Clinical Center, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Silver Spring, Maryland
George L. Jackson, Duke University Medical Center
William C. Cantrell, Mental Health and Chaplaincy Program, Department of Veterans Affairs, Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA, and Marine Forces Reserve, Chaplain Corps, United States Navy, New Orleans, Louisiana
Marian E. Lane, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
Mark J. Bates, Population Health, Deployment Health Clinical Center, Defense Centers of Excellence for Psy-chological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
Mark DeKraai, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Denise Bulling, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow
Keith Ethridge, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Chaplain Center, Hampton, Virginia
Kent D. Drescher, National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Menlo Park, California
George Fitchett, Rush University
Wendy N. Tenhula, Department of Veterans Affairs, Mental Health Services, Washington, DC
Glen Milstein, Department of Psychology, The City College of New York
Robert M. Bray, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Keith Meador, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Date of this Version

2013

Citation

Published in Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy 19:1 (2013), pp. 3–21

Comments

Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Used by permission.

Abstract

Chaplains play important roles in caring for Veterans and Service members with mental health problems. As part of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Department of Defense (DoD) Integrated Mental Health Strategy, we used a sequential approach to examining intersections between chaplaincy and mental health by gathering and building upon: (1) input from key subject matter experts; (2) quantitative data from the VA/DoD Chaplain Survey (N = 2,163; response rate of 75% in VA and 60% in DoD); and (3) qualitative data from site visits to 33 VA and DoD facilities. Findings indicate that chaplains are extensively involved in caring for individuals with mental health problems, yet integration between mental health and chaplaincy is frequently limited due to difficulties between the disciplines in establishing familiarity and trust. We present recommendations for improving integration of services, and we suggest key domains for future research.