My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems

<strong>Objective:</strong> The United States Veterans Health Administration My Life, My Story (MLMS) program is a patient-centered care intervention where veterans are interviewed about their life story and may grant permission to include it in their electronic health record (EHR). Our...

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Main Authors: Grace Chang, Martha Duffy, Susan Nathan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Beryl Institute 2025-04-01
Series:Patient Experience Journal
Subjects:
Online Access:https://pxjournal.org/journal/vol12/iss1/9
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author Grace Chang
Martha Duffy
Susan Nathan
author_facet Grace Chang
Martha Duffy
Susan Nathan
author_sort Grace Chang
collection DOAJ
description <strong>Objective:</strong> The United States Veterans Health Administration My Life, My Story (MLMS) program is a patient-centered care intervention where veterans are interviewed about their life story and may grant permission to include it in their electronic health record (EHR). Our purpose was to focus on a sample of MLMS narratives from veterans with self-disclosed substance use (SU) from our institution, and to evaluate the potential relationship between their content and a life change for the better, and to compare their content with the EHR. <strong>Methods:</strong> The narratives were reviewed on 4 domains (past challenge, substance use, experience of a turning point or insight, life improvement) by two reviewers using a pre-specified code book. 31 narratives were reviewed. Additional demographic and clinical data were abstracted from the EHR. <strong>Results:</strong> Veterans' mean age was 68.7 (SD = 6.0) years when interviewed. All were male and had a tobacco (23%), SU (45%), anxiety (32%), mood (45%), or post-traumatic stress (32%) problem on EHR review. 48% received outpatient mental health treatment whereas 24% received outpatient SU treatment. With regards to MLMS content, 74.2% described a significant life stressor, 93% confirmed SU, 71% reported a turning point, and 80.7% had experienced life improvement. There were no statistically significant relationships between the EHR data and MLMS content areas. However, when a turning point was described, the odds of having a life improvement were increased 26-fold (OR = 26.2, 95% CI = 2.4, 288.9, c-statistic = 0.84). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The MLMS narrative from the veterans' perspective provides additional richness to their history unavailable in the EHR.
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spelling doaj-art-d04241fe19134df78355d9e0aeaecd9c2025-08-20T03:07:44ZengThe Beryl InstitutePatient Experience Journal2372-02472025-04-0112110.35680/2372-0247.1963My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use ProblemsGrace ChangMartha DuffySusan Nathan<strong>Objective:</strong> The United States Veterans Health Administration My Life, My Story (MLMS) program is a patient-centered care intervention where veterans are interviewed about their life story and may grant permission to include it in their electronic health record (EHR). Our purpose was to focus on a sample of MLMS narratives from veterans with self-disclosed substance use (SU) from our institution, and to evaluate the potential relationship between their content and a life change for the better, and to compare their content with the EHR. <strong>Methods:</strong> The narratives were reviewed on 4 domains (past challenge, substance use, experience of a turning point or insight, life improvement) by two reviewers using a pre-specified code book. 31 narratives were reviewed. Additional demographic and clinical data were abstracted from the EHR. <strong>Results:</strong> Veterans' mean age was 68.7 (SD = 6.0) years when interviewed. All were male and had a tobacco (23%), SU (45%), anxiety (32%), mood (45%), or post-traumatic stress (32%) problem on EHR review. 48% received outpatient mental health treatment whereas 24% received outpatient SU treatment. With regards to MLMS content, 74.2% described a significant life stressor, 93% confirmed SU, 71% reported a turning point, and 80.7% had experienced life improvement. There were no statistically significant relationships between the EHR data and MLMS content areas. However, when a turning point was described, the odds of having a life improvement were increased 26-fold (OR = 26.2, 95% CI = 2.4, 288.9, c-statistic = 0.84). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> The MLMS narrative from the veterans' perspective provides additional richness to their history unavailable in the EHR.https://pxjournal.org/journal/vol12/iss1/9narrative historyhuman experiencepatient-centered care
spellingShingle Grace Chang
Martha Duffy
Susan Nathan
My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems
Patient Experience Journal
narrative history
human experience
patient-centered care
title My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems
title_full My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems
title_fullStr My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems
title_full_unstemmed My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems
title_short My Life, My Story and Life Recovery among Veterans with Substance Use Problems
title_sort my life my story and life recovery among veterans with substance use problems
topic narrative history
human experience
patient-centered care
url https://pxjournal.org/journal/vol12/iss1/9
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