$4 million NIH Grant Establishes Boston Rehabilitation Outcomes Center at BUSPH
Although techniques to measure physical rehabilitation outcomes have been greatly improved in recent years, there is no gold standard to gauge the success of rehabilitation efforts for sick or injured patients.
A grant awarded to the Health & Disability Research Institute (HDR Institute) at Boston University School of Public Health aims to address this problem by establishing the Boston Rehabilitation Outcomes Center (Boston ROC), a collaborative of local institutions that will provide rehabilitation researchers with the most up-to-date outcome measurement tools.
The five-year grant in the range of $4 million is the first of its kind awarded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research to examine rehabilitation outcome measures. Joining the HDR Institute in the work are Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Tufts University. The award comes at a time when consumers, policy makers and insurers are pushing for more reliable ways of evaluating how well rehabilitation healthcare services serve patients.
“There’s a move towards using measurement techniques that have solid scientific evidence behind them,” said Director of the HDR Institute Alan Jette, PhD, MPH, professor of health policy & management, who will lead the new project. “This grant creates a resource that’s not available in rehabilitation research today. Before long, we hope that people will eventually see Boston ROC as the go-to-place when it comes to information about emerging new rehabilitation outcome tools,” he said.
In the last decade, there have been many advances in new techniques and methods available to assess outcomes in rehabilitation research, but many researchers continue to use older, more familiar techniques, according to Jette. There has not been a cohesive system in place to disseminate new methods and researchers are either unaware of the more recent measuring tools or aren’t skilled and trained in them, he said.
Specifically, Boston ROC will pilot programs that will focus on topics such as
Evaluating new techniques (to be used in future clinical trials) to monitor the physical activity intensity of children with cerebral palsy;
Evaluating a touch screen and audio-assisted computer interface of a new outcome instrument that measures factors associated with the re-integration of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans into their communities;
Investigating a new assessment instrument designed to evaluate the function and disability among patients undergoing hip or knee reconstruction surgery.
In addition to addressing specific outcome measurement challenges through pilot programs, Boston ROC will host visiting scientists and engage experts from participating institutions to conduct training workshops and web courses and conferences on newer measurement techniques.
“Over the years, Alan Jette and the researchers at the HDR Institute have made tremendous contributions in advancing rehabilitation science and in improving the skills of health professionals through training and by providing tools,” said Robert Meenan, MD, MBA, MPH, dean of BUSPH. “This new effort, funded by a very competitive NIH grant, will fill a serious gap in the ability of researchers to measure rehabilitation outcomes precisely and effectively. Alan is a superb choice to lead this effort.”
Originally a part of the Center for Rehabilitation Effectiveness at BU’s College of Health & Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College, the Boston University HDR Institute was established in 2004 and moved its operation to BUSPH in 2006 as a part of the School’s effort to increase its capacity to study disability as a public health issue. Faculty and staff at HDR Institute conduct funded research and provide education and training opportunities to students and health professionals.
Besides Jette, other BUSPH faculty involved in Boston ROC include Stephen Haley, PhD, MS, professor of health policy and management and associate director of HDR Institute; Nancy Latham, PhD, MSc, research assistant professor of health policy and management; Pengsheng Ni, MD, MPH, research assistant professor of health policy and management, and Mary Slavin, PhD, MS, research assistant professor of health policy and management.
Submitted by Elana Zak, ezak@bu.edu