Three of the newest NIH Collaboratory Trials are supported through the NIH HEAL Initiative℠, or Helping to End Addiction Long-Term Initiative℠, reflecting a special emphasis on developing strategies for the management of chronic pain in rural and remote populations.
“There are many known disparities between urban and rural populations,” said Karen Kehl, a program director at the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). “And when we talk about chronic pain, we know that there’s a higher incidence and a higher severity of pain in rural populations, and yet they don’t have access to many of the effective solutions that we have,” Kehl added.
We recently spoke with Kehl, Julie Fritz of the BeatPain Utah trial, and the principal investigators of the AIM-CP, ARBOR-Telehealth, and RAMP trials at the NIH Collaboratory’s 2024 Annual Steering Committee Meeting. They discussed the progress of their studies and the importance of supporting healthcare and promoting health equity in rural communities through pragmatic research.
AIM-CP |
AIM-CP will test the implementation of a care management program to address inequities in access to nonpharmacological treatment for chronic pain in rural populations. The principal investigators are Kushang Patel and Sebastian Tong of the University of Washington. The study is supported by NINR. Learn more about AIM-CP. |
ARBOR-Telehealth |
ARBOR-Telehealth will evaluate the use of a telehealth physical therapy strategy for patients who present to primary care clinics with low back pain in rural communities. The principal investigators are Richard Skolasky and Kevin McLaughlin of Johns Hopkins University. The study is supported by the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Learn more about ARBOR-Telehealth. |
RAMP |
RAMP will evaluate the use of a 12-week mind-body skills training program for rural veterans with pain, including a one-on-one session with a “whole health coach” followed by 11 weekly group sessions to include prerecorded expert-led education videos, mind-body skills training and practice, and group discussions. The principal investigators are Diana Burgess and Roni Evans of the University of Minnesota and Katherine Hadlandsmyth of the University of Iowa. The study is supported by NINR. Learn more about RAMP. |
Ethics and regulatory onboarding documentation for 2 of the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory's newest trials is now available. The documents include meeting minutes and supplementary materials summarizing recent discussions of ethics and regulatory issues associated with the AIM-CP trial and the MOMs Chat & Care Study.
The NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory is excited to announce the addition of 5 new large-scale pragmatic clinical trials to its portfolio of innovative NIH Collaboratory Trials, which will extend the program's mission to strengthen the national capacity to implement cost-effective, large-scale research studies that engage healthcare delivery organizations as research partners.