Health Psychology Research / HPR / Volume 6 / Issue 1 / DOI: 10.4081/​hpr.2018.7393
GENERAL

The role of the psychologist in the veterans administration’s patient  aligned care team and huddle: A review, practical recommendations,  and a call to action

Rodrigo Velezmoro1
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1 C.W. Bill Young VAMC, Bay Pines VA Healthcare System, Bay Pines, FL, USA
Submitted: 2 March 2018 | Revised: 31 July 2018 | Accepted: 31 July 2018 | Published: 31 July 2018
© 2018 by the Author(s). Licensee Health Psychology Research, USA. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
Abstract

The Veterans Administration (VA)’s Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model has been a cornerstone of primary care in the VA healthcare system and has indicated the need for an organiza tional cultural shift towards interdisciplinary care. Most of the focus in PACT has been on the traditional providers of the medical model, with little attention focused on the role of the psychologist. This paper examines how psychologists can assist in the PACT model and, in particular, within the team VA huddle. Literature on the PACT model, mental health in PACT, and the advantages of the huddle are reviewed. Lessons learned within a large VA clinic are also discussed. Psychologists’ ability to be a clinician, team builder, and system specialist is discussed and how it benefits the PACT and the huddling process. Practical recommendations are made for how to best assist during the huddle, and how to advo cate for both the huddle, and for a broader cultural shift in care.

Keywords
Huddle
Interdisciplinary
Veterans Administration
Teams
References

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The author declares no potential conflict of interest.
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