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 25 results
'It's Nonjudgmental Support': Breathing Easier with the Healthy Lungs Program
Comparing approaches to help longtime smokers quit smoking for good.
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.
Improving Life for Women with Parkinson's Disease
PCORI Engagement Award supports the creation of a national, prioritized women and Parkinson’s research and care agenda.
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.
A Less-Invasive Way to Replace a Heart Valve: Is Newer Better?
A nonsurgical method to replace the aortic valve turned out as safe as surgery and allowed more patients to go home from the hospital, rather than to a nursing home or rehabilitation facility.
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.
Preventing Life-Threatening Blood Clots
A study finds success in educating hospitalized patients about the importance of preventive treatment.
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.
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.
Medication Choices Based on Data, Not Fear
Researchers are investigating how patients with inflammatory bowel disease weigh treatment benefits and risks—and then are using that information to consider differences between two types of drugs.
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.
Improving Patient-Nurse Communication to Prevent a Life-Threatening Complication
Hospitalized patients are at increased risk for potentially fatal blood clots in their legs and lungs; a Baltimore team is exploring how to ensure wider use of preventive measures.
Mejorando La Calidad de Vida Para Latinas con Cáncer de Seno
La mayoría de Latinas con cáncer de seno enfrenten más desafíos en manejar su enfermedad que la poblacion general. Una investigadora esta estudiando si grupos de apollo con relevancia cultural pueden mejorar la vida de estas mujeres - y de sus cuidadores.
Fighting Depression with the Power of Community
Inner-city minority groups have reduced access to traditional treatment services for depression; a partnership in Los Angeles expands on existing community resources to improve access to evidence-based services in a community-wide strategy.
Improving Quality of Life for Latinas with Breast Cancer
Most Hispanic women with breast cancer face extra challenges in dealing with the disease. One researcher aims to find out if culturally relevant group support can help such women and their caregivers.
Take as Directed (or Why Not?)
William Vinacco decided not to take his newly prescribed blood pressure medicine; a Boston team is devising tools to help patients talk to their doctors to address concerns that might have led to that choice.
