This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
AGA, CCF award $1 million to improve communication in IBD care
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and the American Gastroenterological Association announced that with the help of Pfizer, they have awarded two $500,000 grants for projects designed to improve communication and shared decision-making between patients with inflammatory bowel disease and their doctors.
“Research has shown that there are gaps in patient/provider communications, yet there is evidence that shared decision-making can positively affect certain patient outcomes,” Laura Wingate, senior vice president of education, support and advocacy for the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation said in a press release. “While there are tools to support shared decision-making, there are often barriers to implementation.”
The coalition awarded the first grant to Gary Maslow, MD, MPH, of Duke Health, for his project “Patient and Caregiver Peer Coaching Intervention to Improve Patient Care and Shared Decision-Making Between Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Their Health Care Team.” Maslow will study the efficacy of peer health coaching invention for young adults with IBD who need help navigating the adult health system.
“Peer based coaching is a novel idea in IBD,” Maslow said in the press release. “Using tools that are a part of their everyday lives, phones and texts, young adult IBD patients will have access to a trained peer coach who can share knowledge, experience and emotional guidance through a shared experience of living with IBD.”
Brennan Spiegel, MD, MSHS, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, also received a grant for his project, “IBD&me: Optimizing Selection of Biologic and Small Molecule Therapies in IBD.”
His project will take a closer look at IBD&me, an online tool that helps patients decide what biologic therapy will work best for them.
“The study will help us understand how patients using IBD&me perceive its impact on communications with their providers,” Spiegel said in the press release. “IBD&me offers an online interactive decision aid to help patients navigate their treatment programs in line with their preferences and beliefs and produces a personalized report designed to help doctors efficiently and effectively understand their patients' preferences.”
Disclosures: Wingate is employed by the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. Healio Gastroenterology and Liver Disease could not determine Maslow or Spiegel’s relevant disclosures at the time of publication.