Methods	Design: Randomized controlled trial
	Recruitment: Some potential participants were referred during VA primary care visits; others visited the study office in response to posted fliers advertising the study.
	Setting: VA primary care clinics, 2 east coast and 2 west coast cities, US
	Follow‐up: 6 months
Participants	Population: Homeless veterans
	Eligibility criteria: Had to be homeless and had to use Veterans Affairs Primary care
	Sample size: Total n = 375, intervention n = 195, control n = 180
	Baseline characteristics: “Baseline characteristics of both study arms were not significantly different, except for marital status. In both groups, most patients were men (intervention n = 188 (96%); usual care n = 171 (95%)). In both groups, the largest proportion of patients was white (peer mentor: 45% [N = 88] white, 34% [N = 66] black, 4% [N = 8] Hispanic, and 17% [N = 33] other; usual care: 43% [N = 78]
	white, 37% [N = 66] black, 5% [N = 9] Hispanic, and 15% [N = 27] other). The mean(SD) age of patients in the two groups was 52 (10). Most patients in both cohorts had at least one mental health condition; the largest proportions had depression or anxiety or both”
Interventions	Peer mentor intervention:
	“Patients in the peer mentor intervention received regular contacts with an assigned peer mentor over a six‐month period in addition to their usual primary care from their Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) or Homeless Patient Aligned Care Teams (H‐PACT) clinical team. Peer mentors were salaried employees embedded in the primary care team and were formerly homeless veterans who had extensive experience with VA health care services.
	Responsibilities focused on facilitating didactic exercises, serving as a role model, assisting veterans to articulate goals and needs, teaching problem‐solving techniques, and providing assistance navigating the health care system. Mentors scheduled routine visits with their assigned patients over a six‐month period to reinforce care plans identified in the clinic visit”.
	Usual care:
	“Patients randomly assigned to usual care continued to receive primary care without any other additional services”.
Outcomes	Hospitalization: inpatient admissions and emergency department visits were identified using the VA Medical Statistical Analysis System files
Notes