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 28 results
'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.
Empowering the Marshallese Community in Managing Type 2 Diabetes
New research shows tailoring diabetes education to meet cultural needs can significantly improve blood sugar levels in Marshallese patients with type 2 diabetes.
Spreading a Communication Plan to Improve Patient Safety in Hospitals
Engaging parents as active participants in pediatric hospital rounds slashed the rate of medical errors. Now, the research team is working to expand the program from seven to 21 hospitals.
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.
Bone Marrow Transplants: More Than Just Survival
An engagement awardee develops an agenda for research about the procedure’s impact on patients and caregivers.
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.
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.
Engagement Project Yields Unexpected Dividends
PCORI-funded conferences about a genetic condition were the springboard to statewide observances and launch of a clinic.
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.
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?
Home-Based Care for Chronic Kidney Disease
Kidney disease is rampant among Zuni Indians. Researchers test a novel home-based care model to combat the epidemic.
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.
Considering Patient Concerns during Trauma Care
Urgent treatment of serious injuries traditionally focuses on saving lives and limbs. Adding efforts to address individual patients’ needs may improve the experience and its outcomes.
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.
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.
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.
At Teenagers' Checkups, Height, Weight--and Cholesterol?
How do adolescents, and their parents, feel about screenings for high cholesterol—and will screening lead to treatment that improves health?
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
For Healthier Nights and Longer Lives
Experienced patients help those newly diagnosed with sleep apnea learn to use a challenging but effective treatment. Technology plays a supporting role.
In Care Transitions, a Chance to Make or Break Patients' Recovery
Poorly executed transitions between healthcare settings—for example, from hospital to home or a nursing facility—can harm patients and lead to additional hospital visits. PCORI is funding projects to improve transitional care.
Improving Methods for Studying Chronic Disease
Repeated adjustments in medication doses complicate the analysis of patient outcomes. Researchers are creating an easy-to-use statistical toolkit to help researchers study treatments that vary over time.
Improving Healthcare Outcomes in Rural Settings
Compared to the rest of the nation, rural America bears a disparate burden of healthcare challenges. Americans living in rural areas suffer from higher rates of chronic disease and have higher rates of disability or death due to unintentional injury.
When Kidneys Fail: Helping Patients Choose the Treatment Best for Them
The two main types of renal dialysis significantly alter patients’ lives in different ways. Michigan researchers are developing a tool to guide patients toward a better-informed choice.