• Suzannah K Creech, Carey S Pulverman, Christopher W Kahler, Lindsay M Orchowski, M Tracie Shea, Golfo Tzilos Wernette, and Caron Zlotnick.
• VA VISN 17 Center of Excellence for Research on Returning War Veterans and the Central Texas Veterans Health Care System, Waco, TX, USA. Suzannah.Creech@va.gov.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Apr 1; 37 (5): 109711071097-1107.

ImportanceSexual assault is a public health concern for women and is associated with subsequent psychosocial health risks of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), hazardous drinking, and intimate partner violence (IPV). Sexual assault is associated with social stigma and other barriers shown to inhibit one from seeking mental health care. Digital health technologies may overcome these barriers.ObjectiveTo test the impact of a brief computerized intervention delivered in primary care to reduce health risks and increase mental health treatment utilization among women with histories of sexual assault and current health risks.Design, Setting, And ParticipantsThe Safe and Healthy Experiences (SHE) program was tested in a randomized controlled trial with N = 153 women veterans at a Veterans Health Administration (VHA) medical center, and they completed assessments at baseline, 2 months, and 4 months.InterventionSHE is a brief motivational interviewing and psychoeducation-based computerized intervention. SHE was compared to a screen and referral-only control condition.Main MeasuresHealth risks were measured via validated self-report instruments. Treatment initiation and utilization were measured via self-report and chart review.ResultsSHE did not impact women's number of health risks (all p's > .05). However, women randomized to SHE showed significantly greater increases in treatment use compared to women in the control group, as measured by chart review (χ2 (1, n = 153) = 4.38, p = .036, rs = .16), and self-report (χ2 (1, n = 130) = 5.89, p = .015, rs = .21). SHE was found to be an acceptable intervention.ConclusionsSHE was effective in improving mental health treatment initiation and utilization compared to a control group. Computer-based interventions to address sexual trauma and its consequences are acceptable, are highly scalable, and can add value to primary care with little cost or increase in provider time.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT02957747.© 2021. This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply.

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