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2009 Article of the Year
by
Academy Health

Amal Trivedi’s article entitled “Insurance Parity and the Use of Outpatient Mental Health Care Following a Psychiatric Hospitalization” has been selected as the 2009 Article of the Year by Academy Health.

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Faculty of the Month October/November 2009:

LINDA RESNIK, PHD, PT, OCS
Associate Professor of Community Health (Research)

Recent Award

"Celebration of Excellence," an annual awards ceremony held by the Hospital Association of Rhode Island. Employees of the year from HARI's member hospitals are recognized by the HARI board of trustees for exemplary performance and dedication to health care. The honorees are an example of the hard-working determined employee who is an inspiration for everyone: supervisors, subordinates, peers and patients.

The 2009 Celebration of Excellence will be held November 10, 2009.

Recent Grants Awarded

2009-2011 Principal Investigator: VA RR&D
A6780 VA Study to Optimize the DEKA Arm - $1,936,882

The primary objectives of this iterative usability and optimization study are to: 1) determine the feasibility of the deployment of the DEKA arm by clinicians in the rehabilitation community; and 2) optimize the DEKA arm system to best suit VA patient needs. Specifically we aim to: 1) Evaluate the amputee’s experience of using the DEKA arm; 2) Evaluate clinicians’ experience of fitting, setting up and training subjects with the DEKA arm; 3) Evaluate improvements in the arm and it’s software as it is optimized by DEKA throughout the study.

2007-2011 Principal Investigator VA HSR&D
DHI-07-144   A ComputerAdaptive Test to Measure Community
Reintegration - $1,122,065

The objectives of this proposal are to: 1) develop the CRIS into a computer adaptive test (the CRIS-CAT) that will facilitate efficient yet comprehensive collection of community re-integration data; 2) assess psychometric characteristics of the CRIS-CAT including concurrent, discriminant and predictive validity, and to 3 )use the new measure to compare and contrast community re-integration outcomes in the 3 groups of veterans whose outcomes are expected to span the spectrum.

Recent Publications

Berg K, Finne-Soveri, H, Gray, L Harwood, JC, Henrard, J, Hirdes J, Ikegami N, Ljunggren, G, Morris, J Paquay, L Resnik L, Teare, G. Relationship between interRAI HC and the ICF: Opportunity for operationalizing the ICF, BMC Health Services Research, 2009; 9(1)

Resnik, L, Allen SM, Isenstadt D, Wasserman M, Iezzoni L, Perspectives on Use of Mobility Aids in a Diverse Population of Seniors: Implications for Intervention, Disability and Health, 2009; 2, (2):77-85

Resnik, L, Plow, M, Review of Measures of Community Reintegration as defined by the Participation domain of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,2009; 9(5:) 856-866

Plow, M, Resnik, L, Allen SM Exploring Physical Activity Behaviour of Persons with Multiple Sclerosis: A Qualitative Pilot Study, Disability and Rehabilitation, 2009 May 21:1-14

Resnik, L, Plow, M, Jette, A, Development of the CRIS: A Measure of Community Reintegration of Injured Services Members, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, 2009, 46(4) 469-480

Recent Invited Presentations

Resnik, L Latest Technology:VA Studies of the DEKA Arm, VA Amputation System of Care Conference, Seattle, WA, June 25, 2009

Resnik, L, Fantini, C, VA Studies of the DEKA Arm, American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetics, Seattle, WA, September, 2009

Resnik, L, Coulter, S, The DEKA ARM SYSTEM: Notes and Learnings and VA Studies of the DEKA Arm New England Chapter American Academy of Orthotists & Prosthetists Manchester, NH, October 15, 2009

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Faculty of the Month
August/September 2009:

MARY FENNELL, PHD
Professor of Sociology and
Community Health

Recent Award
National Institutes of Health 2009 Director's Award
"in recognition of exemplary leadership in developing and implementing the National Cancer Institute’s Community Cancer Centers Program to enhance community-based cancer care and research."

Recent Publications
Fennell, ML, Clauser, S, O’Brien D, Johnson M, Beveridge J, Kaluzny A,“A New Approach to Improving Clinical Research and Cancer Care Delivery in Community Settings: Evaluating the NCI Community Cancer Centers Program. Implementation Science - In review.

Fennell ML, Davis S. Developing a Consumer Choice Structure in Networked Cultural Systems. Consumption, Markets and Culture – In review.

Fennell ML, Leicht KT, “Institutionalism and the Professions,” In The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, edited by Greenwood R, Oliver C, Suddaby R, Sahlin K. London: Sage Publications. 2008, pp. 431-448.

Fennell ML. The new medical technologies and the organizations of medical science and treatment. Health Serv Res. 2008 Feb;43(1 Pt 1):1-9.

Smith DB, Feng Z, Fennell ML, Zinn J, Mor V. Racial disparities in access to long-term care: the illusive pursuit of equity. J Health Polit Policy Law. 2008 Oct;33(5):861-81.

Smith LM, Lapane KL, Fennell ML, Miller EA, Mor V. Home health agency profit orientation and risk for hospitalization: a propensity score analysis of population weighted data. Home Health Care Serv Q. 2008;27(3):240-57.

Fennell ML, Leicht, KT. Who staffs the US leaning tower? Organizational Change and Diversity. Equal Opportunities International, 2008, Vol 27, No. 1:88-106

Current Grants Awarded
Principal Investigator: “Separate and Unequal: State Policies and Market Factors Affecting Nursing Home Access and Quality,” RO1 grant funded by the National Institute on Aging, October 2007 – September 2010; total costs $399,876.

“Organizational Change and the New Paradigm in Cancer Treatment.” IPA Contract with the National Cancer Institute; July 1, 2008 through July 31, 2009; $201,106. In negotiation for extension through July 31, 2010 (supplemental funds $135,049).

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Faculty of the Month
June 2009:

VINCE MOR, PHD
Professor of Medical Science
Florence Pirce Grant University Professor of Community Health
Chair, Department of Community Health

Recent Invited Presentations
Mor, V ( May 2009) “ ‘White Flight’ from US Nursing Homes: The quality consequences of nursing home segregation” The 16th Annual Princeton Conference, Princeton, NJ May 20-21, 2009

Recent Award
2009 AAHPM Award for Excellence in Scientific Research from the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) at the Annual Assembly of AAHPM and HPNA in Austin, Texas on March 28, 2009.

Current Grants Awarded
2008-2013 Principal Investigator. Sub with Johns Hopkins. “National Study of Disability Trends and Dynamics”. Design and conduct a longitudinal and nationally
representative study of the disability trends and dynamics among the U.S.
older population. $1,868,305

2008-2011 Principal Investigator. National Institutes of Health. “The Emergence of Elder Care in China” A team of experienced LTC researchers from the U.S. and China will study recent developments in the institutional elder care sector
In China, then will develop a nursing home data collection instrument that
Can be readily used by others throughout the country. $124,723

2008-2011 Investigator. Retirement Research Foundation. “Nursing Home Culture Change: Understanding Its Implementation and Impact” $289,435

2008-2010 Principal Investigator. National Institutes of Health. “SAFEHAVEN: Decision Support for Nursing Home Resident Disaster Evacuations” This study will seek To understand the consequences of hurricanes and evacuation decisions, providing ing the first evidence base to inform the creation of evacuation guidelines.
$1,049,869

2008-2010 Principal Investigator. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Impact of State Policy Changes on Nursing Home Hospitalizations” To assess the impact of states’ Medicaid bed-hold and reimbursement policies on the hospitalization rate on nursing home residents. $307,261

2008-2010 Principal Investigator. NY State Dementia Program. “Bathing Without a Battle”$303,267

2008-2009 Principal Investigator. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Evaluation of the Implementation, Adoption , and Outcomes of Health Pact-RWJF Share Program” $200,000

2007-2012 Principal Investigator. Department of Health and Human Services. “Shaping Long Term Care in America” To build long term care data and policy repository and analysis infrastructure to examine the nations long term care system. Survey states’ policies and a national sample of nursing homes, integrating them with secondary data on providers and residents. Integrate economic and organizational theory to develop measures and to test hypothesis on impact of market and policy change focusing to market and policy changes on residents’ outcomes $9,973,840

2007-2009 Co-Investigator. Department of Health and Human Services. “Billing Based Measures of Nursing Home Medical Staff Organization” To Develop globally applicable measures of the involvement of medical staff in the care of nursing home residents by intelligent use of medical staff Medicare claims for services. $350,833

2007-2009 Investigator. Department of Health and Human Services-Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. “Hospice Enrollment and LTC Policy (HELP)” $74,962

2005-2010 Co-Investigator. Department of Health and Human Services. “Feeding Tube Use Among Persons with Advanced Dementia” $1,977,057

2005-2009 Principal Investigator. Department of Health and Human Services-NIA. “Wage Mandates, Labor Turnover, and NH Quality” To examine the relationship between Nursing Home labor turnover and retention rates, and the quality of care provided in Nursing Homes and how those relationships are altered in the face of state policy changes affecting staffing from 1999 through 2005. $1,125,139

1986-2011 Principal Investigator. Depart of Health and Human Services “National Research Service Award”. Program to train physicians And individuals with PhD's in research methodology, gerontology, geriatrics And long term care policy. $1,772,717

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Schwartz Communication Session - March 10, 2009

An innovative learning experience was launched at Alpert Medical School of Brown University on March 10, 2009. With support from the Schwartz Center in Boston, the first “Schwartz Communication Session” was held. The sessions are intended to teach 1st and 2nd year medical students sensitive and compassionate communication skills with families and patients to improve care quality. The Schwartz Center was established to honor Kenneth Schwartz, a young lawyer who wrote compellingly about how communication with health professionals vitally affected his and his family’s comfort and quality of life during his struggle with terminal cancer. The Center funds monthly “Schwartz Rounds,” in which health professionals at more than 150 hospitals, including Rhode Island and The Miriam, discuss a patient case with difficult communication issues. Since most 1st and 2nd year medical students are not yet equipped for the complex conversations and dynamics of hospital Schwartz Rounds, the Schwartz Sessions for students are designed to prepare them for career success as compassionate and effective communicators. As part of the Doctoring course, the Schwartz Sessions provide guidance in effective communication to enable students to participate in and benefit from local hospital Schwartz rounds when they begin their 3rd year clinical clerkships.

Prior to this week’s Schwartz Session, first year medical students read a Boston Globe article by Ken Schwartz and the narrative of a challenging real life case. During lunch, they viewed 2 powerful short films showcasing problematic as well as effective communication: “When Things Go Wrong,” by Tom Delbanco, MD - interviews of patients who had been harmed by medical errors and their families; and “One Story, Two Voices - a moving set of interviews with a young woman dying of cancer and her physician.

After hearing a brief introduction to the rationale and structure of the Schwartz Session, students moved to their small groups in which they role-played the real-life case, then discussed the communication of the role play and the case with their physician and social/behavioral scientist group leaders. The Session concluded with a 45-minute large group wrap-up, led by Janet Cooper-Nelson (Brown University Chaplain) and a panel of discussants (William Kirkpatrick, Chief of Social Work for Lifespan; Iris Tong, MD, director of the year 1 Doctoring Course; and Richard Besdine, MD, Chief of the Division of Geriatrics). The energetic and highly participatory discussion was enriched by the panelists’ professional perspectives on communication issues that were highlighted in the case. Evaluations were positive and replete with constructive critical feedback.

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Faculty of the Month
April 2009:

AMAL N. TRIVEDI, MD, MPH
Assistant Professor for Community Health

Invited Presentations:
Health Disparities”, Harvard School of Public Health, March 11, 2009

Current Grants Awarded:
VA Health Services Research and Development, Comparing the Quality and Equity of Care in the VA and Medicare Managed Care, 10/08-9/13, Principal Investigator, $980,000

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation SHARE Program, Evaluating the Implementation, Adoption and Outcomes of Rhode Island’s Health Pact Plans, 4/08-10/09,Co-Principal Investigator, $200,000

Pfizer Foundation, Effect of Cost Sharing on Preventive Service Use and Health Outcomes among the Elderly, 7/07-6/09, Principal Investigator, $130,000

Academic Honors:
2009- Robert Wood Johnson VA Faculty Scholars Program

2009- Most Outstanding Abstract, Academy Health Annual Research Meeting (Given to three highest rated scientific abstracts of 1900 submitted to meeting)

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Faculty of the Month
March 2009:

JOAN M. TENO, MD, MS
Professor of Community Health and Medicine
Associate Director of the Center for Gerontology and Healthcare Research

Joan Teno has co-written a guide to help doctors place their patients in the best possible hospice care. Details on the guide will be published in the Feb. 11, 2009, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association. http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2009/02/end

Invited Presentations:
Teno JM. End of life care. Rhode Island Chapter of the American College of Physicians (ACP) Meeting, Radisson Airport Hotel, Warwick, RI, June 4, 2009.

Teno JM. Using the Family Evaluation of Hospice Care Survey to Jump Start your QAPI Program. National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) 24th Management and Leadership Conference, Washington, DC, April 24, 2009.

Teno JM, Embracing Nursing Homes as the Final Locus of Care: Managing Pain, Dementia as a Terminal Illness and Choosing a High Quality Hospice. New England Branch of the Long Term Care Group Purchasing Organization-UHF of New England, Best Western/Royal Plaza, Marlboro, MA, April 8, 2009

Teno JM. How do you recognize a high quality hospice program? Rhode Island Health Information Management Association (RIHIMA) Meeting, Providence, RI, April 3, 2009.

Teno J., Lima J, Lyon K Are Bereaved Family Members Perceptions Stable During Bereavement? Annual Assembly American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Austin, TX, March 26, 2009.

Sasser C, Ferrell B, Otis-Green S, Teno J, Puchalski C. Redefining Evidence-Based Research for Palliative Care. Annual Assembly American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association, Austin, TX, March 26, 2009.

Teno J. When Personal Healthcare Decision Making Worlds Collide: Resuscitation Status vs. Advance Directive. Newport Hospital Ethics Committee, Newport Hospital, Newport, RI, March 18, 2009.

Current Grants Awarded:
Hospices Organized to Promote Excellence (HOPE). American Cancer Society, $60,000. Current. Principal Investigator.

Shaping Long Term Care in America. DHHS. $1,286,694. Current. Investigator.

Causes and Consequences of Health Care Efficiency. Subcontract with Dartmouth, $32,701. Current. Principal Investigator.

Development of the Patient Evaluation of Hospice and Palliative Care Measure. RRF/NHF, $28,774. Current. Principal Investigator.

Cancer Assessments and Reports of End-of-Life Treatment. NIH/NCI, $390,102. Current. Principal Investigator.

The CASCADE Study: End-of-Life in Advanced Dementia. Subcontract with HRCA, $23,583. Current. Principal Investigator.

The ADEPT Study: Estimating Prognosis in Advanced Dementia. Subcontract with HRCA, $$75,832. Current. Investigator.

Feeding Tube Use Among Persons with Advanced Dementia. DHHS, $408,909. Current. Principal Investigator.

Evaluation of the “Reducing Potentially Preventable Transfers at End of Life” Project. California Healthcare Foundation. $130,000. Current. Principal Investigator.

Evaluation of Data Linkage Methodology to Improve Estimates of Elder Mistreatment. DHHS. $118,581. Current. Investigator.

Transdisciplinary Cancer Control Research Training Grant. Subcontract with Miriam Hospital, $26,826. Current. Investigator.

Multifaceted Interventions to Ameliorate Pain/Symptoms. DHHS/NIH, $120,000. September 15, 2004 – May 31, 2009. Principal Investigator.

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Faculty of the Month February 2009:

Susan Miller, PHD, MBA
Associate Professor (Research)
Community Health

Invited Presentations:
International:
Hospice Care for patients with dementia: where and how?" at ANTEA Worldwide Palliative Care Conference, Rome, Italy, November 14, 2008.

National:
Survey of Research on Hospice/Nursing Homes. At: National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s 4th Annual Policy Forum, Washington, DC, April 2008.

Hospice in the Nursing Home: How to Build, Manage and Sustain a Successful and Rewarding Partnership for the Best Possible End-of-Life Care, A webinar presented to 278 hospice and nursing home providers, sponsored by Health Resources Publishing, October 7, 2008

Grants Awarded:

6/1/08-5/30/11
Retirement Research Foundation $289,434

Nursing Home Culture Change: Understanding its Implementation and Impact
This study will inform our understanding of what state policies and organizational and healthcare market characteristics promote or discourage the adoption of nursing home culture change. Also, it will also broaden our understanding of how adoption of culture change is associated with quality of care processes and outcomes.

     8 /1/08-7/31/10
     Alzheimer’s Association                               $199,921

     End-of-Life Care and Hospice: Older Adults with Dementia in Nursing Homes

This study will determine national population-based rates of Medicare hospice election and hospice lengths to stay for NH decedents with dementia, describe how hospice election and lengths of stays have changed from 1999 through 2007, and describe how elections and lengths of stay differed from dementia residents who did and did not receive Medicare skilled nursing facility care in the last 90 days of life.

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Faculty in the News
.
2009 Article of the Year by Academy Health

Schwartz Communication

October/November 2009 Faculty of the Month

August/September 2009 Faculty of the Month

June 2009 Faculty of the Month

April 2009 Faculty of the Month

March 2009 Faculty of the Month

February 2009 Faculty of the Month

Brown University | Alpert Medical School | Department of Community Health

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2009 Article of the Year by Academy Health

Faculty of the Month October/November 2009:

Faculty of the Month August/September 2009:

Faculty of the Month June 2009:

Schwartz Communication Session - March 10, 2009

Faculty of the Month April 2009:

Faculty of the Month March 2009:

Faculty of the Month February 2009:

2009 Article of the Year
by
Academy Health

Faculty of the Month
August/September 2009:

Faculty of the Month
June 2009:

Faculty of the Month
April 2009:

Faculty of the Month
March 2009: