Primary care that matches Veterans' personal priorities and values
Official title: Integrating personal values into primary care for Veterans with multimorbidity
Funded at VA Puget Sound Healthcare System · NIH-11097199 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will develop and try a VA primary care approach to help Veterans with multiple chronic conditions bring their personal values into medical decisions so care focuses on what matters most to them.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | VA Puget Sound Healthcare System NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2023 |
| Project end | December 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5IK2HX003462-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11097199 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Veterans who receive primary care in the VA and live with two or more chronic health conditions and multiple treatments to manage.
✕Less likely to help
People without multiple chronic conditions, non-Veterans, or those mainly treated in specialty clinics rather than VA primary care are unlikely to benefit from this specific program.
What this research studies
You would use a new Vet-Align approach that helps you and your primary care team talk about what matters most in your life and link those priorities to your health goals and treatments. The research team will design Vet-Align with input from Veterans and primary care clinicians and create simple tools to record your values and preferred outcomes. The team will put Vet-Align into VA primary care visits and study how it affects care planning, treatment burden, and unwanted interventions. The goal is to make regular clinic visits more focused, clearer, and easier to manage for Veterans with multiple chronic conditions.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, Vet-Align could make your care better match your priorities, reduce unnecessary treatments, and lower the burden of managing multiple conditions.
How similar studies have gone: Prior smaller studies suggest values-based conversations can streamline care and reduce unwanted interventions, but this specific Vet-Align integration into primary care is a new, untested approach.
Where this research is happening
-
VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schuttner, Linnaea — VA Puget Sound Healthcare System
- Study coordinator: Schuttner, Linnaea
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.