Altarum to Present at 2022 American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting

Are you attending APHA 2022? The annual meeting of the American Public Health Association will take place in Boston, Massachusetts November 6^th through 9^th. Connect with Altarum at one of our sessions or contact Tara Fowler to schedule a meeting with the Altarum team during the conference.

On Monday, November 7^th, our experts and partners will present the following three sessions on behavioral health and military health. All times listed below are in Eastern time.

Responding to Adolescent Depression through Integration and Telemedicine
Monday, November 7, 10:30 am
Altarum Behavioral Health Program Director Jessica McDuff will present a poster during the “Integrated Behavioral Health, Mental Health, and Substance Use” session of the Mental Health program. The poster presents findings from our Responding to Adolescent Depression through Integration and Telemedicine (RAD-IT) program. This was a two-year pilot program funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, implemented by Altarum in collaboration with the Michigan Center for Rural Health and the Upper Midwest Telehealth Resource Center. The presentation will describe how the innovative program addressed adolescent depression in rural Michigan through integration and telemedicine, including program findings, recommendations, and lessons learned. With a growing national mental health burden and behavioral health workforce shortage, these lessons can be used to expand and improve adolescent behavioral health in rural areas and beyond, nationwide.

Trends in Department of Defense beneficiaries’ preventive care utilization, alcohol and tobacco use during the Covid-19 pandemic
Monday, November 7, 10:30 am
Altarum Senior Researcher Chris Duke and Defense Health Agency (DHA) Senior Policy Analyst Melissa Gliner will present twice during the “Access to Care Barriers in Relation to Covid-19” session in the Veterans Caucus. For over a decade, Altarum has worked with DHA to help inform the delivery of patient-centered care within the Department of Defense (DoD) Military Health System (MHS) by collecting, analyzing, and reporting TRICARE beneficiary survey data. In the first analysis presented, we examined responses to changes in preventive care, alcohol consumption, and trends for smoking and e-cigarette usage among active duty service members, active duty family members, retirees, and retirees’ dependents during the Covid-19 pandemic. Understanding beneficiaries’ behavior changes and access to preventive care are important for MHS and DoD leadership for monitoring health-related behaviors of MHS beneficiaries and ensuring care is provided through the right channels. Findings from this study provide valuable insights into problematic behaviors, such as excess alcohol consumption, during the pandemic. A better understanding of beneficiary health behaviors allows the MHS to target messaging and provide additional resources to ensure beneficiaries are provided the health resources they need.

Covid-19 vaccine beliefs among military members and other Department of Defense beneficiaries
Monday, November 7, 11:15 am
In this second oral presentation from Altarum Senior Researcher Chris Duke and DHA Senior Policy Analyst Melissa Gliner, we take another dive into the MHS TRICARE beneficiary health-related behaviors, this time to better understand how vaccination rates and beliefs about the Covid-19 vaccine have changed over time. Using data from the Health Care Survey of DoD Beneficiaries (HCSDB) for four surveys across 2021 and 2022, the study examines Covid-19 vaccine acceptance and hesitancy. As a result, we were able to identify trends in Covid-19 vaccination rates over time in TRICARE beneficiaries, compare differences in vaccination rates between beneficiary categories (active duty service members, active duty family members, retirees, and retiree dependents) and demographics, and analyze how specific attitudes and beliefs, such as trust in the health care system, predicted the likelihood of receiving the Covid-19 vaccination. Findings from this study provide valuable insights for future MHS public health messaging to ensure all patients have the accurate information needed to inform their health care decisions. With continued competing information about the pandemic and vaccines, it is critical that the MHS actively engages with TRICARE beneficiaries to provide reliable, scientific information and targeted messaging about the efficacy and safety of vaccines.

Learn more about Altarum’s work in behavioral health and military health.