APA-SM is an NIH Collaboratory Trial 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.
Learn more about APA-SM, including the project’s recently published study design.
At the NIH Collaboratory’s 2026 Annual Steering Committee Meeting, we spoke with co–principal investigator Jennifer Kawi to learn more about APA-SM.
“One of the things that was impressed on us from the very beginning was making sure that we extend our reach…into the communities,” Kawi said. Kawi is the Maria C. and Christopher J. Pappas Family Distinguished Chair in Nursing and a professor in the department of research at UTHealth Houston’s Cizik School of Nursing.
“[Community health workers] have really been very instrumental in engaging our participants, because they know the local people, they know the communities, and they’re able to help us expand our reach in rural areas,” she explained.
“As researchers, sometimes we work in silos, we focus on our own projects and don’t always have the opportunity to have interactions with others,” Kawi said.
“So having this annual meeting with the [NIH Collaboratory Steering Committee] has been really very helpful in networking, in getting advice, getting support, and really expanding our ability to do what we can do, and maybe looking at other options if there are barriers or challenges that we’re facing,” she said.
In the coming weeks, we will share more highlights from the 2026 Annual Steering Committee Meeting. Access the complete meeting materials.
