Understanding Who Uses Whole Health Services: A Program Evaluation

Abstract

Background: The Veterans Health Administration is rolling out a Whole Health system of care as part of an enhanced focus on proactive, person-centered healthcare. Objective: Our program evaluation seeks to characterize what Veterans use Whole Health services, for what diagnoses they are seeking Whole Health services, and to examine “high utilizers” of Whole Health services. Methods: Data were collected on 174 Veterans using Whole Health services from December 2018 through March 2020 and consisted of chart review and self-report data. Results: Women were more likely than men Veterans to use individual only Whole Health services. High utilizers (the top 30% of the sample in Whole Health services used) were more likely to attend groups than the remainder of the sample. Conclusion: Future work should examine the community-building aspects of Whole Health and ways to create group programming tailored to women Veterans.