INQRI Team Publishes New Article on Intragroup Social Dynamics, Methods

INQRI grantee Tracey Yap and her team recently a new article in the Journal of Mixed Methods Research which discusses intragroup social dynamics and the work of their nursing and education research team as a community of research practice interested in organizational cultures and occupational subcultures. The dynamics were characterized by processes of socialization through reeducation and group social identity formation that allowed members to cross disciplines and produce interdisciplinary mixed methods combinations.

Yap's INQRI team developed a sustainable, system-wide program for pressure ulcer prevention that enhances mobility of long-term care (LTC) residents. The primary goal was to reduce LTC facility-acquired pressure ulcer incidence by 50% using a cost-effective innovative program to increase resident active or passive movement. The team was led by Yap, a nurse researcher, and Jay Kim, PhD, an engineer.

To learn more about their new article, please visit the journal's website.

INQRI Demonstrates Lessons Learned, Recommendations for the Future

José A. Pagán, PhD 

This special issue of Medical Care nicely summarizes many of the key accomplishments of the INQRI program in terms of pushing the frontier of what is known about the linkages between nursing care and health care quality.

INQRI not only has provided resources for nursing researchers to show the role of nursing care on the delivery of high quality health care services, but the program has also increased awareness about the importance of nursing care in the research conducted in other disciplines.

The provision of financial and technical resources through the INQRI program to make interdisciplinary work possible has brought together researchers from different disciplines (economics, business, engineering and many others) that typically would have not thought about getting involved in nursing research. I suspect some of this is due to the lack of a scholarly community large enough to sustain high impact conversations and policy discussions about the role of nurses in health care quality. INQRI has taken us a step closer to having a critical mass of interdisciplinary nursing researchers.

The methodological challenges in implementation science may seem large but the work funded by INQRI in this area shows clear lessons learned and provides recommendations to advance methods, including the need to develop standards for implementation methods as well as identifying the potential benefits of thinking about reporting standards.

Dr. Pagán is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Management & Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth and a member of INQRI's National Advisory Committee. 

This post is part of our week-long blog carnival focused on the Medical Care supplement.  Click here to access all posts in this carnival. 

Methodology Issues in Implementation Science

Robin Newhouse, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Kathleen Bobay, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, Patricia C. Dykes, DNSc, RN, FAAN, FACMI, Kathleen R. Stevens, EdD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, Marita Titler, PhD, RN, FAAN 

In our article, “Methodology Issues in Implementation Science,” we identified some of the methodological challenges experienced by INQRI teams in the conduct of their projects and provided recommendations for future methods development. Although evidence-based practices improve patient outcomes, they are often underused for a number of health conditions. This underuse adds to the proliferation of unexplained and unjustified variations in practices and we believe that implementation science holds promise for expanding what is known about improving health care delivery, outcomes, and value. Based on the four INQRI case studies we reviewed, we recommend the following strategies to advance methods in implementation science: 1) the development of a core set of implementation concepts and metrics; 2) the creation of standards for implementation methods; and 3) the endorsement of reporting standards for implementation studies. Implementation science is the link between effective interventions, practice, and patient outcomes. To generate usable knowledge needed to leverage health system change and realize broad health care improvements, the methodological issues identified must be addressed to build implementation science.

This post is part of our week-long blog carnival focused on the Medical Care supplement.  Click here to access all posts in this carnival.

INQRI Grantee Appointed to PCORI Leadership Role

Congratulations to INQRI grantee Robin Newhouse, who was recently appointed to be the Vice-Chair of the Methodology Committee for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. Newhouse has served on the Committee since its establishment by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) in January 2011.

"Dr. Newhouse has demonstrated a tremendous commitment to improving the field of patient-centered outcomes research," said Committee Chair Sherine Gabriel, MD, MSc, Dean of Mayo Medical School. "We look forward to her continued leadership as we work to fulfill our legislative mandate to standardize and promote rigorous methods for research."

Click here for more information.

Web Offerings from the VA... Starting Off with Grantee Ciaran Phibbs

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Health Services Research & Development Service has released its list of upcoming web sessions... and we were pleased to see INQRI grantee Ciaran Phibbs leading the pack!

Wednesday, December 1, 2:00pm ET

HERC Econometrics Course: Right Hand Side Variables
by Ciaran Phibbs, PhD
Register now.

Ciaran Phibbs, PhD is the Assistant Director of HERC. Dr. Phibbs is a health economist at the Center for Health Care Evaluation and the Cooperative Studies Program Coordinating Center, a Consulting Associate Professor in the Department of Health Research and Policy, Stanford University School of Medicine, and a Research Associate, Center for Health Policy and Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research, Stanford University. His own VA research projects have focused on the demand for VA healthcare and how travel distance and the availability of non-VA alternatives influence veterans use of VA care. In more general terms, his research focuses on the hospital costs and competition. Much of this work has looked at how travel distance effects hospitals, and methods for defining hospital markets. Dr. Phibbs also has a long standing interest in neonatal care.

Additional Events:

Monday, December 6, 1:00pm ET
VIReC Database and Methods Seminar: Measuring Veterans Health Services Use in Medicare (Part 2)
by Denise Hynes, PhD, RN
Register now.

Tuesday, December 7, 12:00pm ET
QUERI Implementation Research: Internet and My HealtheVet Use for Chronic Disease Self-Management
by Keith McInnes, ScD, MS
Register now.

Tuesday, December 14, 1:00pm ET
Spotlight on Evidence-based Synthesis Program: Systematic Literature Review on Women Veteran’s Research
by Bevanne Bean-Mayberry, MD, MHS
Isomi Miake-Lye, BA
Register now.

Wednesday, December 15, 2:00pm ET
HERC Econometrics Course: Research Design
by Jean Yoon, PhD
Register now.

Thursday, December 16, 12:00pm ET
Timely Topics of Interest: Using Evaluation to Improve our Work: A Resource Guide
by Michael Davies, MD
Joe Francis, MD, MPH
Dede Ordin, MD, MPH
Susanne Salem-Schatz, ScD
Register now.

Methods on My Mind

Given the topic of this week's webinar, it seemed a good time to share information about the upcoming Methods Seminars at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) this year. You can attend these meetings without registering for the full ARM. Check it out:

Expand Your Skills & Explore Your Interests with
Methods Seminars and Interest Group Meetings

>> METHODS SEMINARS
June 26 and June 27

These pre-conference sessions are ideal for both new and experienced researchers who want to enhance their skills in research methodologies.

Issues in the Analysis of Complex Sample Survey Data
Methods of Comparative Effectiveness Research
Introduction to Medicare Part D Data for Research
Enhancing Your Methodological Toolbox: An Introduction to Qualitative Research
Methods for Addressing Endogeneity and Selection Bias in Observational Studies

For more information about the Interest Group meetings, click here.

For more information about Adjunct meetings, click here.