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Chronic Illness Management Study Examples

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

Here are some prime examples of Group Health Center for Health Studies (CHS) research in chronic illness management: 

• Improving Chronic Illness Care (ICIC)
• Liaison Psychiatry in Primary Care
• Integrated Care for Depression and Back Pain
• Telephone Adherence Project (TAP)
• Outcomes Assessment of Pediatric Asthma
• Postmenopausal Evaluation and Risk Reduction with Lasofoxifene (PEARL)

Improving Chronic Illness Care (ICIC)

• Principal Investigator: Edward H. Wagner, MD, MPH

This nationwide project helps improve the health and lives of the more than 100 million Americans who have diabetes, depression, and other chronic conditions. With the Chronic Care Model at its core, Improving Chronic Illness Care (ICIC) helps large numbers of health systems provide better care, which can lower overall health care costs. ICIC aims to transform what is now a reactive health care system into one that keeps its patients as healthy as possible through planning, proven strategies, and management. ICIC is funded by a $25 million grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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Liaison Psychiatry in Primary Care

• Principal Investigator: Wayne J. Katon, MD, University of Washington (UW) Department of Psychiatry
• Group Health Co-Principal Investigator: Michael Von Korff, ScD

Called "Pathways," this project concerns patients who have depression as well as diabetes. This two-part study includes both a large epidemiologic study of depression in people with diabetes and a randomized trial of an innovative care program for people with both diabetes and depression. The care program includes a specialized nurse care-manager trained to provide structured psychotherapy for depression and to support antidepressant medication treatment by the primary care physician. A $2.5 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) funds the five-year project, which involves collaborators from CHS, UW, and the University of Chicago.

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Integrated Care for Depression and Back Pain

• Principal Investigator: Michael Von Korff, ScD

With a three-year, $711,000 grant from the NIMH, CHS researchers are exploring how to care best for chronic back pain patients who also have major depression. The goal of the project is to help people with back pain and depression improve their quality of life on the job and at home by reducing not only pain and disability but also the symptoms of depression that often accompany them. The project is first developing and distributing an intervention that health professionals can use in general health care settings. Then it will conduct a pilot study of the intervention. The integrated, biopsychosocial intervention incorporates proven treatments for major depression (problem-solving therapy, antidepressants, or both) with those for chronic back pain (brief cognitive-behavioral therapy).

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Telephone Adherence Project (TAP)

• Principal Investigator: Sheryl L. Catz, PhD

The Telephone Adherence Project (TAP) is a randomized clinical trial to test how a new motivational and behavioral skills intervention compares with a health education control intervention, both delivered by phone. The study will determine what gets more people living with HIV in a statewide prison system to take their antiretroviral treatment as prescribed. Many people first start HIV treatment when entering jail, and early treatment adherence strongly predicts continued adherence. Poor responses to initial antiretroviral medications can reduce the potential effectiveness of subsequent treatment. TAP will help meet the urgent need for feasible methods of delivering adherence behavior-change interventions to this difficult-to-reach HIV-infected population. A three-year, $1.5 million grant from the NIMH funds this project.

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Outcomes Assessment of Pediatric Asthma

• Principal Investigator: Kevin Weiss, MD, MPH, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
• Group Health Co-investigator: Paula Lozano, MD, MPH

This study's goal is to develop outcome measures for childhood asthma using data from three health systems. It also aims to refine lessons learned from a randomized controlled trial in 638 children with asthma, comparing two interventions based in primary care: intensive provider education and organizational change. The researchers are developing ways to translate these research findings into practice by encouraging health systems to adopt effective interventions for childhood asthma. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) are funding CHS with $1.2 million over five years for its part in this multicenter study.

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Postmenopausal Evaluation and Risk Reduction with Lasofoxifene (PEARL)

• Principal Investigator: Andrea Z. LaCroix, PhD

CHS is one of 115 sites in 32 countries testing lasofoxifene, an investigational medication that may help prevent osteoporotic fractures. The postmenopausal women aged 60–80 who are enrolled in this study will have semi-annual bone mineral density testing and annual mammograms, spine films, Pap tests, and physical exams. Calcium and vitamin D will be provided for the duration of the three-year study, which is sponsored by Pfizer.

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Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro