O4
COMMUNITY REINFORCEMENT APPROACH AND FAMILY TRAINING (CRAFT) TO IMPROVE HELPSEEKING AND WELLBEING
N. Greenberg, King’s College London, UK
Background:
Close family members can have a key role in encouraging military veterans to seek help for their mental health. Community Reinforcement Approach and Family Training (CRAFT) was developed to equip concerned significant others (CSOs) of people experiencing substance use disorders with skills to encourage their loved one to enter treatment and to improve their own well-being. It was adapted by the US veterans administration to help CSO’s whose loved ones had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (VA-CRAFT).
Aims:
This study aimed to evaluate an adaptation of VA-CRAFT for use with CSOs of UK military veterans experiencing PTSD and Common Mental Disorders in the UK (UKV-CRAFT).
Methods:
Acceptability of UKV-CRAFT was assessed with interviews with key stakeholders (n = 15) working in veteran support roles. Additionally, feedback was gathered from three CSOs who had received, and three facilitators who delivered, UKV-CRAFT.
Results:
UKV-CRAFT was viewed positively. Interviewees highlighted that programmes like UKV-CRAFT filled a gap in provision for UK Armed Forces families. Interviewees praised how UKV-CRAFT enhanced CSO well-being and communication with their loved one. Concerns over the confidentiality of taking part in UKV-CRAFT were raised due to the perceived negative effects of highlighting a loved one’s mental ill health. Ideas for improvement included broadening access to all CSOs regardless of whether their loved one was seeking treatment.
Conclusions:
Interviewees regarded UKV-CRAFT as a potentially useful intervention suggesting it could be proactively offered universally to support timely help-seeking if required. Further evaluation of UKV-CRAFT on a wider scale is warranted.
Reference:
Croak B, Archer M, Harwood H, Stevelink SAM, Greenberg N, Rafferty L. Evaluation of Community Reinforcement and Family Therapy in the UK military community. Eur J Psychotraumatol. 2023;14(2):2282904. doi: 10.1080/20008066.2023.2282904. Epub 2023 Nov 27. PMID: 38010161.
