Project Summary
Background: Significant opportunities exist to examine and address unmet needs in relation to patient/peer priorities among older adults living with depression and health comorbidities to provide them with meaningful information to inform their decision making about treatment options.
Proposed Solution to the Problem: Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance is partnering with the National Network of Depression Centers to hold a convening event in Chicago, Illinois, to build a better understanding of patient/peer priorities for patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) and clinical effectiveness research (CER) about depression and health comorbidities, identify gaps in currently funded CER, and embed the voice of those with lived experience in shaping future CER.
Objectives: Objectives for this project are defined in the following aims:
Aim One: Transfer knowledge about effective evidence-based engagement methods in PCOR/CER specific to older adults living with depression and health comorbidities (HC)
Aim Two: Develop and promote a collaborative approach to plan future CER studies that more fully address patient/peer priorities.
Aim Three: Promote collaborative relationships among stakeholders to increase the meaningful engagement of individuals with depression and HC in CER, thus creating a faster path from evidence to action.
Activities: The project team will organize this project into the following tasks:
- Establish a Project Advisory Committee to serve as a leadership committee, providing input for project milestones and deliverables
- Conduct PCORI database review, patient/peer survey, literature review, and peer priority mapping
- Plan and implement convenings to identify research priorities for older adult depression and health comorbidities CER and develop a collaborative approach to inform future research partnerships
- Report and disseminate to summarize key learnings, recommendations, and action plans from the convening and disseminate them widely to relevant stakeholder audiences
Projected Outcomes and Outputs:
Short-Term Reach: Gather 30 individuals with an interest in CER, including patients/peers and older adult advocacy groups, researchers, and clinicians.
Medium Term Implementation: The convening will result in recommendations for how older adult depression and HC CER projects can address gaps in currently available evidence in ways that reflect patient/peer priorities.
Medium-Term Reach: More than 100 individuals will attend a post-convening webinar designed to share findings and recommendations from the Guidance Document. Attendees will report the webinar improved their knowledge of the topics.
Long-Term Engagement: 50 percent of stakeholders are motivated to undertake further investigation of the model through CER.
Patient and Stakeholder Engagement Plan:
Short-Term Engagement: The Project Advisory Committee comprising six or more individuals will include representation from peers, older adult advocacy groups, researchers, and clinicians. Members will report meaningful participation.
Short-Term Implementation: Convening participants will report that they, among other measures, agree that learning about integrated and holistic care models was helpful in understanding outcomes important to patients/peers and have a better understanding of peer priorities for depression and HC CER and how they map to PCORI’s portfolio.
Medium-Term Implementation: Convening participants will report that they, among other measures, have an increased understanding of how to engage peers effectively in depression and HC CER.
Medium-Term Reach: The Guidance Document and webinar recording will be disseminated widely to stakeholders with an interest in older adults with depression and HC CER
Project Collaborators: The project team will ensure integration of patient/peer perspectives at the project leadership-level through the Project Advisory Committee. The team also will ensure that patient/peers have equal opportunity to contribute to discussions and feel comfortable and able to share their perspectives. Patient/peers and older adult advocacy partners will receive an honorarium for participation.