VA Research Wrap Up: New findings on suicide prevention, TBI and aging, homecare system for older Veterans

This week, VA's Office of Research and Development published three News Briefs highlighting research findings on community asset maps to aid suicide prevention, reversing the aging caused by TBIs, and a new homecare system for older Veterans.

Community asset maps could help VA prevent suicide

Veteran suicide risk is a combination of many factors, such as social support, financial stress, legal problems, substance use, food insecurity, discrimination, housing instability, access to lethal means and many more. Preventing suicide is therefore a complex problem with many facets requiring varied resources, but Eastern Colorado VA researchers led a national team to demonstrate how health care providers can use community asset mapping (CAM) to connect Veterans to the resources they need.

CAM creates a network of support, identifying resources such as Veteran Service Organizations, Community Veterans Engagement Boards, state suicide prevention coordinators, community mental health organizations and more. VA health care professionals can then use CAM to link Veterans to local resources in their area. Since 2019, with the launch of an improved Veterans Community Care Program, VA has made it a priority to coordinate with community partners for medical and mental health services. CAM's ability to create a broad community network of shared resources could prove essential in VA's efforts to prevent Veteran suicide. (Federal Practitioner, April 18, 2025)

TBIs speed up aging, but it can be reversed

Veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBI) often show faster biological aging, according to findings from the VA Mid-Atlantic MIRECC's Post-Deployment Mental Health study. Faster biological aging means chronic diseases are onset earlier in life than normal and can even include premature death. Whereas birth age refers to the passing of time, biological age refers to the health of one's cells and the rate of their decline. The researchers analyzed blood samples from 1,100 Veterans, looking for the chemical markers that indicate an individual's biological age. The researchers found that Veterans with two or more lifetime or deployment-related TBIs showed an increase in their biological age. The effect was even greater in Women Veterans with deployment-related TBIs. Thankfully, researchers found these associations were small to moderate in size and could be offset with a healthy diet and lifestyle. (Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, Aug. 19, 2025)

VA's tests new homecare system for older Veterans

In a pilot of a new Technology Enabled Respite Homecare Model (TERHM), Veterans reported higher patient satisfaction and fewer unmet care needs, while Durham VA researchers noted there was also less risk of adverse outcomes, such as emergency visits and hospital readmissions.

TERHM allowed Veterans to pick their own home health aides, which could even include family members, and state their personal care needs through an online platform. The researchers also found that Veterans who were able to choose a family member as an aide were more likely to ask for and receive needed services. The online system not only increased Veterans' control of their health care, it benefited the home health aides by easing their administrative burden, such as submitting timecards. Both Veterans and aides suggested the system could be improved by offering nursing oversight, communication tools and online education, but overall the pilot is off to a strong start with positive results. (Journal of Applied Gerontology, Aug. 27, 2025)