PCORI Funds Telehealth-Related Research Projects
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved funding of $23.5 million to expand its portfolio of projects seeking to determine the effectiveness of telehealth and mobile health solutions for a wide range of conditions and situations.
One comparative effectiveness research project will assess how effective two new mobile health (mHealth) technologies are at helping people quit smoking. It will compare the use of an mHealth approach to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) called iCanQuit alone to a combination of iCanQuit and Motiv8, a technology that provides financial rewards based on evidence of smoking abstinence, and each of these telehealth options to traditional cessation approaches such as telephone counseling through “quitlines.”
A pain-coping study seeks to determine whether a single online class dubbed Empowered Relief that teaches pain relief skills is as or more effective than the gold standard treatment of eight sessions of CBT at helping people manage their chronic pain and whether either therapy works better for some people than for others. If the online class proves as effective, it could increase access to care by offering a less burdensome means of developing coping skills.
As evidence mounts that yoga can help people with mild to moderate depression feel better, a study will compare outcomes among people who engage in a real-time remote yoga program to those who receive a recommended form of psychotherapy called behavioral activation via video conference or telephone.
“With the explosion of telehealth, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, studies assessing how well telehealth strategies work in different contexts are highly relevant for many Americans, and we look forward to the insights gleaned from these studies as well as all the other newly approved research projects,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook, M.D., M.P.H., in a statement. “Additionally, we are pleased that PCORI is expanding its research portfolio in two priority areas with today’s approval for a new study on reducing disparities in maternal health and a new study on improving care for people living with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
In addition to recent funding announcements, PCORI is preparing to open a public comment period on its proposed Research Agenda with the Board’s approval to seek input on this proposed framework for achieving progress on its National Priorities for Health and guiding the ongoing development of a research project agenda with patient and stakeholder input.
