Factors associated with veterans service organizations posts decision to participate in a health promotion program

Introduction: Veterans' service organizations (VSOs) can be important partners in efforts to encourage healthy lifestyles and chronic disease self-management among aging veterans. This study partnered community medicine personnel, Veteran Health Administration (VHA) staff, and VSO posts to identify post characteristics associated with voluntary participation in a health-focused intervention. Posts are local units of VSOs that meet regularly to conduct business.

Methods: In our program, trained peer-leaders helped fellow members of 73 participating VSO posts to improve hypertension self-management. We approached all 218 eligible posts located within 60 miles of the nearest VA Medical Center (VAMC). We followed an initial mailed project description with a phone call requesting a post visit. We categorized posts' participation level as not accepting a visit (“no visit”), accepting a visit but not participating (“visit only”), or participating (“participant”). We surveyed posts and used census data to identify factors predictive of participation. We used multivariable logistic regression to identify factors independently associated with participation.

Results: In bivariable analyses, likelihood of participation was positively associated with increasing membership (p<0.001), meeting attendance (p<0.001), publication of an organizational newsletter (p<0.001), presence of a Women's Auxiliary (p=0.02), and location within 44 miles of the VAMC (p=0.047). In multivariable analysis, only meeting attendance and Census tract-level educational attainment predicted participation.

Conclusions: VSOs are willing to partner with community medicine departments and VHA staff to improve veterans' health. Greater membership sizes, meeting attendance, and more group resources might be important factors for researchers to consider when initiating community-based health and wellness programs.