Project Summary
Background:
Scientific medical discoveries often take many years to become everyday practice in healthcare facilities and communities. The resulting health recommendations often use terminology and concepts that are not easily understood by patients and community members. The University of Colorado Department of Family Medicine and our Community Advisory Councils have successfully tested two processes that may improve the translation of scientific medical discovery into language, concepts, and ultimately care that is more accessible to patients. Appreciative Inquiry (AI) engages patients to identify successful solutions to their local health concerns. Boot Camp Translation (BCT) can change patients’ views, and even beliefs, around certain medical conditions. We aim to further test and refine a combined AI/BCT method so others throughout the United States can more quickly translate health recommendations and guidelines into relevant and sustainable messages and care for diverse patients and community members.
Objectives:
- Conduct six AI/BCT projects with rural and urban underserved Colorado communities to select priority health topics, identify factors that facilitate successful health outcomes related to the topic, and translate evidence-based recommendations into local solutions.
- Identify and describe the components of the AI/BCT model essential to engaging patients and community members in patient-centered research.
- Produce a training program for patients, healthcare professionals, and academic researchers to disseminate the AI/BCT to improve patient engagement for patient-centered outcomes.
Methods:
- Aim 1: Community and academic partners will recruit and convene participants for six AI/BCTs in rural and urban areas.
- Aim 2: We will use a specialized method (qualitative comparative analysis) to analyze data about the content and processes from each AI/BCT. With our community partners, we identify a refined and focused set of essential AI/BCT components that lead to successful translation of evidence-based recommendations.
- Aim 3: We will create an educational curriculum and conduct two AI/BCT trainings for community members, researchers, and health professionals.
We will collect qualitative and quantitative data from participants and the training team to assess the effectiveness of the AI/BCT Training.
Patient Outcomes (Projected):
The patient outcome is six AI/BCTs of evidence-based guidelines into concepts and language that resonates with patients and community members in diverse urban and rural underserved communities. The primary outcome is the refined AI/BCT methodology to successfully translate health guidelines identified by patients into language that helps patients have meaningful conversations with their healthcare providers. A complete understanding of this process will allow development and dissemination of the AI/BCT methodology.
^ John Westfall, MD was the original principal investigator for this project.
Westfall JM, Zittleman L, Felzien M, Norman N, Tamez M, Backlund-Jarquin P, et al. Reinventing The Wheel Of Medical Evidence: How The Boot Camp Translation Process Is Making Gains. HealthAffairs 2016 April 01;35(4):613-618.
Project Details
