9 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
Background: * Understanding participants experiences as research volunteers is critical to improving the effectiveness of human participant protection programs and strengthening public trust in clinical research. Historically, studies that evaluate participants comprehension of the informed consent document or evaluate the informed consent process have only indirectly measured the quality of a participant s experience. * Few studies have assessed the nature, quality and efficiency of the entire clinical research process from the participant s perspective. To address this need, researchers have developed a Clinical Research Participant Perception Survey to evaluate participants overall perceptions of clinical research. Objectives: - To validate the Research Participant Perception Survey questionnaire and revise it accordingly to produce a questionnaire that other researchers can use. Eligibility: - Individuals at least 18 years of age who have participated in at least one research protocol within the past 2 years. Participation may be completed or ongoing. Design: * Eligible participants will receive a survey by mail and will be asked to complete it and return it in the stamped envelope provided. * The survey will ask questions about the research protocol process, including participants positive and negative experiences of participating in the research protocol....
This study will examine how research volunteers experience their participation in studies in order to develop surveys to be used by research centers trying to improve the experience of their participants. People 18 years of age and older who have participated in an NIH research protocol within the past 2 years as someone with a medical condition under study may be eligible for this study. Eight participants will participate in a moderator facilitated focus group in a discussion about being in research studies. An observer audiotapes the discussion and takes written notes. The focus group discussion lasts about 1 to 1 (Omega) hours.
The goal of this study is to evaluate the pilot phase of ACS Cares to identify key implementation outcomes and assess effectiveness of the program to improve distress, enhance communication, and reduce missed appointments and healthcare utilization.
Recent Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts are presenting in VA care with high rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders. Difficulties with social relationships and community reintegration are common functional impairments with these disorders. VA is transforming to a Whole Health, patient-centered system of care that will address these issues as part of health care. In a previous study, Omnis Salutis (OS) was developed with Veteran and clinician input. OS is a three-session intervention in which Veterans learn about Whole Health and practice communicating their health mission to providers and social supports. OS was shown feasible to deliver, acceptable to Veterans, and preliminarily effective at improving physical, mental, and social functioning. This study will use a large, multisite randomized controlled trial to test the impact of OS on Veterans' social and physical functioning and Veteran engagement in mental health care. Results will support broad delivery of OS throughout the VA.
Women Veterans are the fastest growing segment of VA users. This dramatic growth has created challenges for VA to ensure that appropriate services are available to meet women Veterans' needs, and that they will want and be able to use those services. The EMPOWER QUERI 2.0 Program is a cluster randomized type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial testing two strategies designed to support implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices for women Veterans in at least 20 VA facilities from 4 regions.
The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to determine the efficacy of a treatment to improve resilience to stress for individuals with SCI who are transitioning from inpatient rehabilitation to home. The overarching hypothesis is that individuals who participate in an intervention that presents positive psychotherapy topics in an interactive, structured, cognitive-behaviorally-based group intervention that stresses restructuring maladaptive thought processes and provides experiential opportunities to reinforce behavioral change will demonstrate increased self-efficacy.
Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the number one cause of death in American women, and all adult women are potentially at risk for CV disease. There are clear gender differences in the control of CV risk factors such as lipids, blood pressure, and intermediate diabetes outcomes nationally and within the VA, with women Veterans often at higher CV risk than their male counterparts. The combination of disparities and gender-specific CV risk factors suggest an urgent need for CV risk factor management in women Veterans. As one project in the Enhancing Mental and Physical health of Women through Engagement and Retention (EMPOWER) QUERI, the objectives of "Facilitating Cardiovascular Risk Screening and Risk Reduction in Women Veterans" are to implement and evaluate a CV risk reduction toolkit (CV toolkit) designed to increase identification of CV risk among Women Veterans, enhance patient/provider communication about their risk, and increase Women Veterans' engagement and retention in relevant health services including referrals to key health programs (e.g., MOVE!, dieticians, health coaches, and CV specialists as needed). The initial CV Toolkit includes four components: (1) Patient education/activation tools including educational materials and a patient CV self-screener to help make CV risk discussion a priority for women before they enter the exam room; (2) A CV risk assessment computerized template to systematically capture CV disease risk factor history and data from the medical record and then facilitate referrals to Gateway to Healthy Living program and other CV risk reduction services/programs; (3) Provider information and education programs as well as referral tools to internal services; and (4) The Gateway to Healthy Living, a facilitated goal-setting group tailored for women Veterans. The goal is to implement the CV Toolkit at four VA facilities with comprehensive women's health clinics. The implementation of the CV Toolkit will be evaluated using a non-randomized stepped wedge design and will apply the evidence-based Replicating Effective Programs (REP) implementation strategy. For the nonrandomized stepped wedge design, each phase represents when one site moved from inactive to active implementation. It was pre-specified for the non-randomized design to evaluate the outcomes as the odds ratio of active intervention versus inactive for the overall study period and not by individual site/phase. This is a function of the use of the non-randomized design. Since the order of sites being introduced into the active intervention is not random, probabilistically the individual site results are not as meaningful here as they would be in a randomized stepped wedge design. Also, mixed methods implementation evaluations will focus on investigating primary implementation outcomes of adoption, acceptability, feasibility, and reach. Multilevel stakeholder engagement will be prioritized. Program-wide organizational-, provider-, and patient-level measures and tools will be utilized to enhance synergy, productivity, impact and facilitate spread.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a replicable, psychologically-based group education intervention, Re-Inventing Yourself after Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), which aims to enhance personal self-efficacy. A structured six-week, manualized, group therapy intervention that delivers positive psychology concepts within a cognitive-behavioral therapy-based model has been created for the purpose of developing a resilient and optimistic sense of efficacy for people with SCI. Concepts covered within this intervention include: reframing and restructuring a person's method of looking at events, building confidence by focusing on personal strengths, developing methods of recognizing and appreciating the good in one's life and expressing gratitude for positive attributes. The goals of this intervention are to increase personal self-efficacy, enhance emotional well-being and improve participation in society for people with SCI living in the community. The investigators hypothesize that persons receiving the intervention will demonstrate improved SCI-specific and overall self-efficacy as compared to waitlist controls.
The goals of this project are to implement an innovative intervention for older adults and assess both its feasibility and effects on health and well-being. The investigators hypothesize that the intervention group will show a significantly better slope for a range of outcomes during and after the intervention.