PCORI Stories
What does patient-centered research look like in the field? These short features provide a glimpse into the workings of the studies and projects we support. Hear from researchers what it’s like to partner with patients and other stakeholders, and from patients about being part of a research team.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 27 results
Enhancing the Delivery of Mental Health Services to Children in Underserved Areas
Study designed to address parents’ concerns demonstrated usefulness of mental health coordinators equipped with telehealth platforms.
'It's Nonjudgmental Support': Breathing Easier with the Healthy Lungs Program
Comparing approaches to help longtime smokers quit smoking for good.
'You Have to Meet People Where They Are to Help Them': Patient Advisors Guide Successful Diabetes Self-Management Study
Comparing individually tailored text messages with other approaches to encourage people with diabetes to take care of themselves.
Changing the Conversation about Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in the Community
A world-famous puppeteer and a community activist bring their firsthand experiences with disabilities to a PCORI-funded project to provide easier access to community venues for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families.
Breaking Down Barriers for Children with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and Their Families
How an occupational therapist is helping those with intellectual and developmental disabilities participate in their communities through a PCORI-funded project.
Preventing Postpartum Depression Closer to Home
A PCORI-funded study compares the effectiveness of prevention programs led by lay home visitors and mental health professionals that teach mothers-to-be the skills to improve their moods and bond with their babies.
Kentucky Community Fights Back against Cardiovascular Disease
In a region where cardiovascular disease risk is extremely high, a combination of self-management classes taught by trained community health workers and buy-in from community leaders led to a significant reduction in cardiovascular disease risk.
Engagement Awards Teams Ride Momentum to Research Projects
The Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Awards build communities to participate in patient-centered outcomes research. But three Engagement Awards teams are doing more than participating in research—they are conducting it.
Research to Help People with Serious Mental Illnesses Improve Their Health
People with serious mental illnesses often struggle to receive care to address common chronic physical health problems. PCORI-funded research projects are testing ways to help people with serious mental illness get the physical health care they need.
Engaging Communities to Improve Depression Treatment
A coalition-based approach to care, bringing together clinicians and community members, helped people from low-income minority groups.
Choosing the Right Breast Cancer Treatment
Research team aims to understand the effects of choosing double mastectomy on women’s cancer distress and body image.
Can Telehealth Improve Care?
Telehealth has the potential to provide access to care for a wide variety of populations that are now underserved. Two PCORI-funded studies are using telehealth in different ways to test its potential.
Tackling Chronic Pain While Reducing Opioid Use
A health system in Washington instituted a clinical plan that has succeeded in lowering patients’ opioid doses, according to a PCORI-funded study.
Finding the Keys to a Longer, Better Life after Stroke
Patients who have a stroke often receive medications to prevent a recurrence. Researchers are using medical records and new patient-reported data to examine the benefits and risks of these treatments.
Fighting Weight Gain in Children and Teens Who Take Bipolar Disorder Medications
Can a diabetes drug, along with lifestyle changes, keep off extra pounds and improve quality of life?
Helping Patients with Chest Pain Make Decisions in the ER
Emergency physicians often recommend—or urge—monitoring and further testing when they see patients with chest pain, even if they haven’t had a heart attack. A study shows benefits of patients’ and doctors’ using a decision aid to guide next steps.
Can Virtual House Calls Provide More Patients with High-Quality Parkinson's Disease Care?
Patients with Parkinson's disease often have difficulty traveling to appointments with far-away specialists. Simple videoconferencing software may bring care into their homes.
Enlisting the Brain in the Fight against Pain
A project in Alabama takes a down-to-earth approach in teaching patients to think differently and cope more effectively with chronic pain. It may alleviate depression, too.
To Stay at Home, Older Adults Should Plan Ahead
Many Americans fail to plan for the health events that commonly occur when they reach their 80s, 90s, or 100s. Researchers are working with older adults to develop a tool that helps them have a voice in what happens as their health needs grow.
Dealing with Cancer Symptoms and Treatment Side Effects
Many patients suffer from severe symptoms, as well as troubling side effects. How can patients and care providers best manage them?
Between Clinicians and Patients, Trained Community Members May Provide a Key Link
Community health workers and patient navigators work to lower barriers patients may face in receiving care and following treatment plans. PCORI-funded studies are testing whether lay people on clinical teams make a measurable difference.
The PROMIS in Putting Patients' Waiting Room Time to Good Use
Patients struggle to provide their full health perspective; a Baltimore team examines whether an iPad questionnaire can improve patient-doctor communication
Long-Term Nicotine Replacement Therapy for Smokers with Lung Disease
A cold-turkey approach to smoking cessation often doesn’t succeed, but a more gradual tactic might be successful for some high-risk smokers.
To Fight Depression, Consider the Context
Low-income women are at high risk for depression and unlikely to get effective treatment. Researchers are testing whether helping underserved women with depression solve their most pressing problems leads to better mental health.
The Decision is Yours: Engaging Patients in Depression-Treatment Choices
A tribal-run healthcare system in Alaska found that depression treatment wasn’t working well, partly because patients weren’t taking their medications. Researchers are developing a decision-support tool to help such patients.
