Supporting teams to optimize function and independence in Veterans: a multi-study program and mixed methods protocol.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:Successful implementation of new clinical programs depends on effectively establishing, reorganizing, or enhancing team structures and processes to coordinate the work of individuals who are interdependent in their tasks, manage relationships, and share responsibility for outcomes. However, a one-size-fits-all approach is rarely effective. In partnership with VA national clinical leaders and local clinical champions, the Optimizing Function and Independence VA Quality Enhancement Research Initiative program (Function QUERI) will evaluate efforts to implement team-based clinical programs for Veterans at risk for functional decline and disability. METHODS:Function QUERI will implement and evaluate three innovative, evidence-based clinical programs in VA medical centers: (1) a group physical therapy program for knee osteoarthritis (Group PT); (2) assisted early mobility for hospitalized older veterans (STRIDE), a supervised walking program for hospitalized older veterans; and (3) implementation of helping invested family members improve veteran experiences study (iHI-FIVES), a skills training program for caregivers of disabled Veterans. A common reason for clinical care gaps in these populations is poor communication and coordination among the many interdisciplinary providers involved in their care. To facilitate the implementation of the clinical programs, Function QUERI will evaluate the impact of complexity science-based implementation intervention to promote team readiness (CONNECT), an implementation intervention designed as a bundle of interaction-oriented activities to promote team function and readiness for change, on the implementation of clinical programs across multiple sites. The evaluation will use a mixed methods design. Group PT is a local, single-site quality improvement project where a modified CONNECT intervention will be tested to inform the remaining program implementation projects. For STRIDE and iHI-FIVES projects, we will randomize participating sites to implement the clinical program, with the CONNECT intervention or not, and will use a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial design. DISCUSSION:Function QUERI will translate its findings across its projects to identify the contextual factors and components from CONNECT that improve team processes and function to optimize effective implementation for future rollout of VA clinical programs. Synthesizing findings within and across projects, we will specify dimensions of team characteristics and function that enhance capacity for clinical innovation and uptake of evidence-based programs. TRIAL REGISTRATION:NCT03300336 Registered September 28, 2017, NCT03474380 Registered March 15, 2018.

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Citation

Published Version (Please cite this version)

10.1186/s13012-018-0748-3

Publication Info

Wang, Virginia, Kelli Allen, Courtney H Van Houtven, Cynthia Coffman, Nina Sperber, Elizabeth P Mahanna, Cathleen Colón-Emeric, Helen Hoenig, et al. (2018). Supporting teams to optimize function and independence in Veterans: a multi-study program and mixed methods protocol. Implementation science : IS, 13(1). p. 58. 10.1186/s13012-018-0748-3 Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/26160.

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Scholars@Duke

Wang

Virginia Wang

Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences

Dr. Virginia Wang is an Associate Professor in Population Health Sciences and Medicine at the Duke University School of Medicine and Core Faculty in the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. She is also a Core Investigator in the Health Services Research Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation at the Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Dr. Wang received her PhD in Health Policy and Management, with a focus on organizational behavior. Her research examines organizational influences and policy on the provision of health services, provider strategy and performance, care coordination, and outcomes for patients with complex chronic disease.

Dr. Wang’s research has been supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health.

Areas of expertise:  health services research, organizational behavior, health policy, implementation and program evaluation
Allen

Kelli Dominick Allen

Adjunct Professor in the Department of Medicine
  • Improving care and outcomes for individuals with osteoarthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions with an emphasis on non-pharmacological therapies including physical activity, weight management, rehabilitation services, and pain coping
    * Understanding rand reducing disparities in musculoskeletal conditions
    * Musculoskeletal conditions in U.S. military Veterans
    * Pragmatic clinical trials
    * Adaptive interventions
Van Houtven

Courtney Harold Van Houtven

Professor in Population Health Sciences

Dr. Courtney Van Houtven is a Professor in The Department of Population Health Science, Duke University School of Medicine and Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy. She is also a Research Career Scientist in The Center of Innovation to Accelerate Discovery and Practice Transformation (ADAPT), Durham Veterans Affairs Health Care System. Dr. Van Houtven’s aging and economics research interests encompass long-term care financing, intra-household decision-making, unpaid family and friend care, and home- and community-based services. She examines how family caregiving affects health care utilization, expenditures, health and work outcomes of care recipients and caregivers. She is also interested in understanding how best to support family caregivers to optimize caregiver and care recipient outcomes.

Dr. Van Houtven  is co-PI on the QUERI Program Project, “Optimizing Function and Independence”, in which her caregiver skills training program developed as an RCT in VA, now called Caregivers FIRST, has been implemented at 125 VA sites nationally. The team will evaluate how intensification of an implementation strategy changes adoption. She directs the VA-CARES Evaluation Center, which evaluates the VA’s Caregiver Support Program. She leads a mixed methods R01 study as PI from the National Institute on Aging that will assess the value of "home time" for persons living with dementia and their caregivers (RF1 AG072364).


Areas of expertise: Health Services Research and Health Economics

Coffman

Cynthia Jan Coffman

Professor of Biostatistics & Bioinformatics

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