Health Coaching and Veteran Reintegration

July 21, 2026 updated by: VA Office of Research and Development

Health Coaching to Improve Functioning and Reduce Suicide Risk Among Reintegrating Veterans

This study will investigate the benefits and drawbacks to two different approaches to supporting Veterans while reintegrating into civilian life.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

398

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

  • Name: Sarah S Ono, PhD MA
  • Phone Number: 51743 (503) 220-8262
  • Email: Sarah.Ono@va.gov

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Oregon
      • Portland, Oregon, United States, 97207-2964
        • VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR
        • Contact:
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Lauren M. Denneson, PhD

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All previously active-duty U.S. military service members and National Guard/Reservists separating from service to civilian life status within the prior three months will be potentially eligible

Exclusion Criteria:

Veterans who are:

  • institutionalized (e.g., prison, nursing home; self-report)
  • unable to read or understand English (self-report)
  • cognitively impaired (≥10 on Short Blessed Test)
  • experiencing psychosis (endorsing thought interference or hallucinations of the Psychosis Screening Questionnaire)
  • experiencing severe substance use (≥27 on Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test [ASSIST], indicating need for more intensive treatment)
  • determined to be at acute risk for suicide (endorsement of suicidal ideation on the 9th item of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 [PHQ-9] and categorized as "higher risk" on the P4 Screener)

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Health Coaching
Up to 10 sessions of health coaching
Behavioral: Health Coaching
Up to 10 sessions of health coaching
Other Names:
  • Wellness Coaching
Active Comparator: Enhanced treatment as usual
Usual reintegration services plus receipt of the VA Welcome Kit
Other: Enhanced treatment as usual
Usual reintegration services plus receipt of the VA Welcome Kit

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Well-being inventory
Time Frame: Month 4
Functioning in adult life roles
Month 4

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Purpose in life scale
Time Frame: Month 4
Purpose in life
Month 4
Self-concept clarity scale
Time Frame: Month 4
Self-concept clarity
Month 4
Life engagement test
Time Frame: Month 4
Life purpose and engagement
Month 4

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

VA Office of Research and Development

Collaborators

Canandaigua VA Medical Center
VA Finger Lakes Healthcare System

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Lauren M. Denneson, PhD, VA Portland Health Care System, Portland, OR

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

July 1, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 2, 2030

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2030

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 21, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 21, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 24, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 24, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 21, 2026

Last Verified

July 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RRD4-007-25W

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified data will be stored in the VA CIVIC Repository

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Data will become available one year after study completion.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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