We partnered with veteran-serving nonprofits in order to identify distressed rural veterans and provide them with a mental health workshop in community-based settings. Community organizations helped recruit veterans and provided space for 1-day (5-h) Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) group workshops conducted in rural locations. Qualitative interviews were conducted at 1- and 3-months post-intervention to assess acceptability. Quantitative measures were conducted at baseline, 1- and 3-months post-intervention to measure effectiveness. We successfully engaged community partners throughout every stage of the research and delivered workshops to thirty-one veterans in rural community-based locations. Veterans appreciated the structure, content, and environment of the workshops; most implemented ACT skills into their daily lives and some initiated new treatment following workshop participation. Quantitative measures showed improvements in functioning (Cohen’s d ranging from .27 to .40), reintegration (Cohen’s d = .45), meaning and purpose (Cohen’s d = .40), and reductions in distress (Cohen’s d ranging from .28 to .40) 3-months following workshop participation. Collaborating with rural veteran-serving nonprofit organizations holds promise for engaging hard-to-reach distressed veterans in mental health care.

我们与为退伍军人服务的非营利组织合作，以确定陷入困境的农村退伍军人，并在社区环境中为他们提供心理健康研讨会。社区组织帮助招募退伍军人，并为在农村地区举办的为期 1 天（5 小时）的接受和承诺疗法 (ACT) 小组研讨会提供空间。在干预后 1 个月和 3 个月进行定性访谈以评估可接受性。在基线、干预后 1 个月和 3 个月进行定量测量以测量有效性。我们在研究的每个阶段成功地与社区合作伙伴合作，并为农村社区地区的 31 名退伍军人举办了研讨会。退伍军人对工作坊的结构、内容和环境表示赞赏；大多数人将 ACT 技能应用到他们的日常生活中，一些人在参加研讨会后开始了新的治疗。定量测量显示功能（Cohen's d 范围从 0.27 到 .40）、重新整合（Cohen's d = .45）、意义和目的（Cohen's d = .40）以及痛苦减少（Cohen's d 范围从 0.28 到.40) 参加研讨会后 3 个月。与为农村退伍军人服务的非营利组织合作有望让难以接触到的陷入困境的退伍军人参与精神卫生保健。