A strategy of engagement with rural partners in the APA-SM trial led to codesign of a feasible, culturally relevant study intervention for use in rural settings.
The results were published online in Frontiers in Pain Research.
APA-SM, an NIH Collaboratory Trial, is testing a 4-week auricular point acupressure telehealth intervention for self-management of chronic pain in rural communities in South Carolina and Texas. The study also includes implementation outcomes, a cost-effectiveness analysis, and an evaluation of predictive factors for treatment response.
During the planning phase of the project, the researchers tailored the study intervention for rural settings after hosting community advisory board meetings, holding focus group interviews with rural partners, and conducting a pilot feasibility study. These complementary approaches “improved the program’s cultural relevance, feasibility, and acceptability in rural settings.”
APA-SM is led by principal investigators Jennifer Kawi and Hulin Wu of UTHealth Houston and Jane Bolin of Texas A&M University. The study is supported within the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory through the NIH HEAL Initiative by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, with additional oversight from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.