Operation Red-White-Blue: A Community Engagement Project Supporting Veteran Mental Health

The Operation Red-White-Blue (O-RWB) project aimed to engage veterans and community mental health providers (CMHPs) in collaborative efforts to address veterans’ mental health challenges. It sought to foster respectful partnerships, enhance capacity for patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and comparative effectiveness research (CER), and identify barriers to veterans’ use of civilian mental health services. This 24-month community engagement project brought together veterans and CMHPs through monthly meetings, veteran-CMHP dyad rotations, community forums, and a National Veteran-Centered Mental Health Care Summit. The focus was on building capacity, improving communication skills, and developing a Veteran-Centered Mental Health Research Agenda. The O-RWB project engaged over 600 stakeholders, hosted 10 community forums, and held a virtual summit. It developed a Veteran-Centered Mental Health Research Agenda addressing stigma reduction, cultural competency, and co-occurring mental health conditions. The O-RWB project demonstrated the value of engaging veterans and CMHPs to improve mental health care. By fostering partnerships and enhancing PCOR and CER capacity, it provided insights into veterans’ challenges and potential solutions. The outcomes have significant implications for clinical practice, public policy, and future research, emphasizing cultural competency, integrated care models, and continued evaluation of veteran-focused interventions