Patient preferences for the delivery of military mental health services.

OBJECTIVE

Knowledge of patients' preferences of military mental health care is required to inform service planning. The objective was to inform service planning by quantifying, and identifying predictors of, patient preferences for mental health care providers and location of facilities.

METHOD

Sociodemographic and service characteristics and concerns about stigma were investigated for patients presenting to 4 U.K. Armed Forces Departments of Community Mental Health over a 2-months period (n = 163).

RESULTS

5% preferred to be seen by a uniformed mental health clinician, 30% by a nonuniformed clinician, and 65% reported no preference. Gender and service were associated with care provider preference and service was associated with location preference.

CONCLUSION

The Armed Forces need to explore and identify ways of accommodating their patients' preference, especially regarding the uniformed status of their care provider, to achieve good engagement and acceptability.