Project Summary
Miners are at risk for multiple chronic conditions, and screening for those conditions poses unique challenges. This proposal will support our final PCORI proposal in which we plan to compare novel vs. standard screening delivery models for chronic health conditions suffered by miners. This proposal intends to build capacity for studying novel screening delivery methods for chronic conditions to benefit miners in New Mexico. The team involves Miners' Colfax Medical Center, located at Raton, NM, and the University of New Mexico, located at Albuquerque, NM. The health issue involves screening miners for chronic health conditions using a new screening delivery model.
The new screening delivery model involves mobile rural community-based clinics across New Mexico staffed by a nurse practitioner with real-time satellite-based access to a university-based specialist. The standard screening delivery model involves an existing university-based clinic that can provide the same services with similar staffing. An example of a testable hypothesis may be that the novel screening delivery model, as compared to the standard model, is associated with similar detection rates for chronic health conditions but greater patient satisfaction and different participant characteristics. We plan in this Tier I proposal to build new capacity for research at Miners' Colfax Medical Center, its satellite-equipped mobile unit clinic, and rural New Mexican mining communities. We plan to engage mining communities to determine their needs and concerns. The impact of this research will be to change the practice of screening for diseases in mining communities.