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Investigator-Initiated Grants
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Below you will find samples of our most recent acquisitions in Investigator-Initiated Grants, grouped by resource type.
Using Video-Enhanced, Internet-Based Vignette Experiments to Study Patient Decisions Regarding Knee Replacement for Osteoarthritis
January 31, 2011
Our substantive research aim is to examine how patients make difficult decisions about surgical treatment for knee osteoarthritis, a serious chronic condition affecting many middle aged and old people. We will be concerned specifically with the effects of: 1) level of pain; 2) opportunity costs associated with treatment; 3) physician recommendations; 4) supplementary outcome projections; and 5) testimonials of other patients on patient decisions.… Continue reading
Using Decision Analytic Modeling to Guide the ACCP Guideline Development Process for Antithrombotic Therapy in Atrial Fibrillation
January 31, 2011
We propose integrating the development of decision analytic (DA) models into the process organized by the ACCP for guideline development and dissemination of antithrombotic therapy in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).… Continue reading
How do Patients Decide about Angioplasty for Chronic Stable Angina? A Content Analysis of Patient-Physician Discussions
January 31, 2011
The objective of this study is to evaluate the content and character of PCI discussions between cardiologists and patients to determine how often recommended elements of informed decision making are included, to understand why many patients perceive a mortality benefit and to evaluate the effect of informed decision making on patients’ decisions. … Continue reading
Cutting Through the Misguided Conventional Wisdom about Healthcare: How Can We Help the Public Believe Medical Evidence
January 31, 2011
This study will investigate public perceptions of breast, prostate and colorectal cancer screening by contrasting popular media messages with evidence based information.… Continue reading
Video Images of Disease for Ethical Outcomes: The VIDEO STUDY
January 31, 2010
In previous work, the Principal Investigator successfully demonstrated that a video of the goals of care in advanced cancer improved understanding and decision making in a small group of patients with advanced brain cancer. The video presents end-of-life options within the framework of the patient’s primary goals of care (i.e., life prolongation, maintenance of function, or comfort care). Building on this earlier work, the main goal of this study is to conduct a randomized controlled trial of the video decision support tool (vs. a verbal narrative) to test the hypothesis that the video improves the decision-making process among persons with advanced cancer. … Continue reading
Prostate Education Project ("PEP Talk"): Cutting through the Uncertainty of Prostate Cancer for Black Men Using Barbershop Outreach
January 31, 2010
The goal of this research is to provide pilot data aimed at a rigorous randomized clinical trial in assessing the effectiveness of barbershop-based health promotion in order to improve the quality of decisions made by AA men about PrCA screening. … Continue reading
Development and Feasibility Testing of a "Consumer Questions" Program to Increase Health Literacy and Empower Consumers to Participate in Decisions about their Health
January 31, 2010
To explore feasibility and implementation issues of a program to train consumers to use the consumer questions.… Continue reading
[FUSION] Investigating the Doctor-Patient-Family Triad to Gain An Understanding of Shared Decision Making
January 30, 2010
To improve understanding of this critical, yet neglected area of DM, the current project will elucidate the doctor-patient-family triadic relationship through an exploration of cancer consultations. It will expand the conceptual framework of the meaning and characteristics of shared decision making (SDM) to incorporate the doctor-patient-family triad. The newly developed conceptual framework will provide a basis for future theoretical and empirical research into triadic DM across a variety of medical and professional encounters. Thus, through its novel conceptual contribution, this project has the potential to transform the field of SDM.… Continue reading
The Impact of a Decision Aid for Hormone Therapy for Prostate Cancer Recurrence on Patients' Anxiety, Decisional Conflict and Knowledge: A Randomized Trial
January 31, 2009
Specific Aims: The overall goal is to improve decision-making regarding the initiation of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) for men with biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer (PCA). We will do this through lowering patients’ anxiety, decreasing decision conflict, improving patient knowledge and, thereby, influencing the shared decision about the timing of ADT initiation.… Continue reading
The Impact of Visuals and an Interactive, Personalized Risk Calculator on Knowledge, Comprehension and Decision Quality Related to the Carotid Endarterectomy Decision Aid
January 31, 2009
This proposal aims to leverage the existing investment by the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation in a CEA decision aid (DA) to answer two applied research questions with implications for both the CEA DA and future (new and/or revised or cross-nationally adapted) DAs.… Continue reading
The Impact of Patient Activation on Preparation for Shared Decision Making Among Lower Socioeconomic and Minority Populations
January 31, 2009
This proposal initiates a larger research effort aimed at identifying methods to improve the ability of patients of lower socioeconomic position or minority status to share in decision making about health and health care, and to study the impact of shared decision making (SDM) on patient satisfaction and health outcomes.… Continue reading
Increasing Self-Management in Chronic Illness: Using Videos and Coaching to Engage Patients
January 31, 2009
Specific aim 1: To leverage existing staff resources to increase the Informed Medical Decisions Foundation diabetes video distribution. Specific aim 2: To increase video viewing rates by patients. Specific aim 3: To assess physician & patient behavior subsequent to video viewing.… Continue reading
Impact of a Decision Aid on Patient Participation in Decision Making and Resource Use in Low Risk Chest Pain Patients: A Randomized Trial
January 31, 2009
Clinicians in the U.S. may miss two of every 100 patients with acute myocardial infarction or unstable angina (i.e., acute coronary syndromes, or ACS) presenting to the emergency department (ED) even after considering the history, physical examination, initial electrocardiogram and cardiac biomarkers (troponin levels). … Continue reading
Feasibility of a Decision Aid for Patients with Serious Illness: A Pilot Study Among Patients and Physicians
January 31, 2009
This study examined the effects of a decision aid for patients facing a serious illness entitled, “Looking Ahead: Choices for Medical Care when You’re Seriously Ill (MCSI)©" Health Dialog.… Continue reading
Enhancing Physician Competencies for Shared Decision Making in Primary Care
January 31, 2009
The purpose of this study is to develop and validate an online educational program to promote shared decision making (SDM) for primary care physicians in their clinical practices. While the study aims to improve physician SDM skills for any kind of diagnostic or treatment decision, prostate cancer screening is used as the decision making model in the educational program.… Continue reading
BESI. From Theories to Interventions: The Conceptualisation and Development of Complex Interventions for Supporting Behaviour Change
January 31, 2009
Specific aim 1: To conduct a literature search to develop a ‘meta’ theory for interventions that would help patients adapt to living with a chronic condition.
Specific aim 2: To compare and contrast behavior support interventions (BESIs) produced by a range of providers, analyzing their fit to a proposed meta theory of behavior support intervention design.… Continue reading
Patient Participation in Decision Making in Medication Adherence in Osteoporosis
January 31, 2008
It is hypothesized that the introduction of decision aids will improve the quality of treatment decisions regarding fracture by leading to bisphosphonate start eliciting patient involvment in the decision making process. It is hypothesized that patients will become more involved in the decision making process and decisions will be more consistent with patients' lifestyles--decision aids (DAs) will lead to bisphosphonate start and adherence in patients at high risk of fracture and to patients stopping medication or not starting in patients at low risk.… Continue reading
Novel Methods for Risk Communication Among Patients with Low Numeracy Skills--Application in Prostate Cancer Decision Support
January 31, 2008
This study is fielding a series of 50 structured interviews in our practice based research network of four clinics serving large populations of African American men with low literacy and low numeracy skills.… Continue reading
Learning by Doing: Improving Risk Communication through Active Processing of Interactive Pictographs
January 31, 2008
This project aims to develop and pilot test Flash-based web widgets that enable users to fill in a pictograph (with dynamic visual and textual feedback) to the risk level of their choice in hopes that a pictograph increases comprehension, satisfaction and/or reliance on information. … Continue reading
Developing and Testing Educational Materials to Improve Decision Making for Patients with Advanced Chronic Kidney Disease
January 31, 2008
The ultimate mission of the project is to develop audiovisual and computer-based resources to enhance shared decision making regarding choice of kidney replacement therapies, and perform a pilot randomized controlled trial comparing the relative effectiveness of resources in improving patient-provider shared decision making. It is hypothesized that resources will improve shared decision-making compared to usual care.… Continue reading
Quality of Decision Making Communication and Outcomes of Care for African Americans with Depression Study
January 31, 2007
This study will increase understanding of the role of SDM in improving outcomes for patients with depression and in reducing racial disparities in mental health care.… Continue reading
Informed Choice Assistance for Patient Decision-Making
January 31, 2007
To test the feasibility of systematically offering Informed Choice Assistance (ICA) during the diagnostic evaluation process to at least 80% of patients facing decisions about the management of uterine fibroids.… Continue reading
Helping People with Low Numeracy Understand Medical Information
January 31, 2007
Studies conducted to examine how people from two countries (USA and Germany) understand numerical and graphical information, which presentation formats help them understand it better and how they use the data to make medical decisions. Aim is to study ways to communicate quantitative medical information to people with low numeracy skills and to propose formats that promote better understanding and proper use of such information. … Continue reading
Effects of Combining Decision Aids on Breast Cancer Adjuvant Treatment Expectations
January 31, 2007
The main goals of this study, using breast cancer patients stages IA to IIIB, are to assess: 1) the degree to which an alternative method of visually presenting and summarizing the numerical data provided by “Adjuvant” influence realistic treatment expectations; 2) the degree to which numeracy affects treatment expectation and through what mechanisms and; 3) whether methods of presenting and summarizing the “Adjuvant” data differentially influence treatment expectations as a function of numeracy.… Continue reading
Are Patient Decision Aids for Total Joint Replacement Cost-Effective and Do They Optimize the Surgical Referral Process from Primary Care
January 30, 2007
The overall goal of this study is to evaluate the effects of patient decision aids (pDAs) on improving decision quality and reducing length of surgical consults for TJA, and their cost-effectiveness. … Continue reading
An Assessment of Shared Decision Aids in Latinas with Breast Cancer
January 30, 2007
Our primary hypothesis is that participants who utilize the “Early Breast Cancer: Chemotherapy and Hormone Therapy are They Right for You?” (translated) DA in shared decision- making will experience more value-congruent decisions than the control group. The specific aims of the proposed work are to: 1) determine the utility of the DA in decision-making; 2) evaluate satisfaction with the DA; and 3) assess and compare the participant’s satisfaction with and value-congruence of her decision after exposure to the DA with those of the control group.… Continue reading
Activating Seniors to Improve Chronic Disease Care
January 30, 2007
Chronic conditions are the primary sources of disease and disability among older Americans. Better patient self-management for chronic conditions has the potential to improve patient quality of life and reduce associated health care costs. Many older Americans, who are often hard to reach with health interventions, use publicly funded multi-purpose senior centers to access social services and seek social support.… Continue reading
A Randomized Controlled Trial of Consumers Asking Questions to Prompt Clinicians to Discuss and Apply Evidence to their Care
January 30, 2007
To test a brief consumer-led intervention consisting of three generic “Consumer Questions” designed to encourage doctors to discuss evidence related to treatment options with their patients. They are: 1) “What are my options?” 2) “What are the possible outcomes of those options?”and 3) “How likely is each of the outcomes to occur?”… Continue reading
Shared Decision Making in Hispanics with Muscoloskeletal Disorders: A Qualitative Study
January 31, 2006
Our findings suggest striking commonalities across the clinical conditions (back vs. knee), sociodemographic strata (high vs. low vulnerability) and ethnic groups (Hispanics vs. non-Hispanics whites). Experienced across anatomic, socioeconomic and ethnic strata, pain and functional limitation are the central experiences of these musculoskeletal disorders.… Continue reading
Impact of Health Literacy on Outcomes and Effectiveness of Shared Decision-Making® Programs in Patients with Chronic Diseases
January 31, 2005
In conjunction with study aims, researchers hypothesize, in patients with coronary heart disease, a video version of a shared decision making program will result in greater knowledge about CAD, its associated risks and life style changes when compared to the use of a booklet alone. … Continue reading
