The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved a research award to Lee Lindquist, MD, MPH, MBA, an associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, to develop and test an advance planning tool to help seniors understand projected health needs and plan ways to remain in their own homes when health crises occur.
The study is part of a portfolio of patient-centered research that addresses PCORI’s national research priorities and will provide patients with information that will help them make better informed decisions about their care.
Lindquist will lead the research project at Northwestern. The project will establish partnerships with senior community groups (e.g. Lincoln Park Village, Skyline Village), area agencies on aging [e.g. Aging and In-Home Services of Northeast Indiana (AIHS)] and home care groups (e.g. Wellspring Personal Care, Home Care Association of America) to create an Advanced Planning for Home Services Tool. It will be developed and tested by seniors.
“People plan for when they are 65 and want to vacation in the south of France, but rarely do people plan for the five to 10 years before they die,” Lindquist said. “Many people experience hospitalizations, memory loss, and physical disability, which impede their ability to stay in their own homes. Our work will give seniors more of a voice in what happens to them.”
The website-based planning tool will help seniors understand their options, plan out what they want to happen, and hand the information to a family member.
“This project reflects PCORI’s commitment to support patient-centered comparative effectiveness research, a new approach to health research that emphasizes the inclusion of patients and caregivers at all stages of the study process,” said Joe Selby, MD, PCORI executive director. “The research will provide patients and those who care for them with better information about the health care decisions they face.”
The Northwestern study is one of 51 projects totaling more than $88.5 million approved for funding by PCORI’s Board of Governors. All were selected through a highly competitive review process in which scientists, patients, caregivers and other stakeholders helped to evaluate more than 400 applications for funding. Proposals were evaluated on the basis of scientific merit, how well patients and other stakeholders are engaged, methodological rigor, and how well they fit within PCORI’s national research priorities.
The awards are part of PCORI’s second cycle of primary research funding. This new round of funding follows PCORI’s initial approval of $40.7 million in support for 25 projects under the institute’s national research priorities. All awards in this most recent round of funding were approved pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of a formal award contract.
For more information about PCORI’s Funding Announcements, visit www.pcori.org/funding-opportunities.