Impacts
Timothy Wilt co‐authored the American College of Physicians (ACP)’s guidance statement on colorectal cancer (CRC) screening (Aug. 2023)
This guidance statement included four recommendations to provide clinicians guidance on screening for colorectal cancer in asymptomatic average‐risk adults, one of which was that clinicians should being screening individuals at age 50. Dr. Wilt is the Chair of the ACP Clinical Guidelines Committee, which is developing panel discussions with other guideline groups (e.g., US Preventive Services Task Force) to discuss and reconcile any differences in guidance statements.
Anne Melzer was invited to join the White House Cancer Cabinet, Prevention and Screening Task Force, Cessation Access Workgroup (Aug. 2023)
In this workgroup, Dr. Melzer is working with experts across government agencies (CMS, NIH, CDC, HHS) to propose coordinated ways that barriers to tobacco treatment can be decreased for priority populations, including participants in lung cancer screening, cancer treatment, and groups at risk of health disparities. This work has the potential to broadly impact smoking cessation efforts, as proposed policies will be shared directly with the broader committee and White House Cabinet for potential implementation.
Elisheva Danan and colleague’s Pap Hub and Spoke Program selected as 2023 VHA Shark Tank finalist for impact on cervical cancer screening (Aug. 2023)
Dr. Elisheva Danan and her team were selected as a finalist out of 355 applicants in the 2023 VHA Shark Tank Competition for their Pap Hub and Spoke Program, described in “A Systems Based Approach to Improve Cervical Cancer Screening in the VA.” To date, there are 4 VA sites actively using the Pap Hub Spoke program, including the Minneapolis VA, and an additional site is in progress of implementing the program. Since July 2022, the number of patients overdue for cervical cancer screening at the Minneapolis VA was reduced by 30, and there was an improvement in adherence to ASCCP guidelines from an error rate of 8.7% to 2.6%. The PabHub team won the VA Women’s Health Research Impact Award in September 2023 for this work.
Steven Fu is collaborating with VHA OMHSP and NIH, Cancer Center Cessation Initiative, to support White House Cancer Moonshot (announced Sept. 2023)
This collaboration is for a clinical demonstration project that aims to implement a proactive outreach approach to increase tobacco use treatment rates. This project is part of President Biden’s White House Cancer Moonshot. It will be implemented within 5 VISN clinical resource hubs to address the high rates of tobacco use among Veterans with mental health disorders and address gaps in the provision of treatment across facilities.
Infographics
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Dr. Allison Gustavson is co-leading VHA’s Long COVID Community of Practice, which aims to foster collaboration within and outside the VA to disseminate information and clinical resources on Long-COVID to providers on a national level. Dr. Gustavson also published a paper (“Stakeholder and Data-Driven Fall Screen in a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly: Quality Improvement Initiative") and infographic to address fall rates in the J of Geriatric Physical Therapy. Gustavson_VisualAbstract |
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CCDOR researcher Dr. Erin Krebs and team worked with a panel of Veterans to develop an infographic to share results of the SPACE study with the community. Click the link below to view and share a copy of the infographic. https://infogram.com/opioids-vs-non-opioids-space-trial-va-research-1hke60d1drle25r |
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Dr. Laura Meis collaborated with CCDOR’s Communication Committee to create a visual abstract of her article, “Sticking It Out in Trauma-Focused Treatment for PTSD: It Takes a Village,” that was published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology. Meis_JCCPVisualAbstract.pdf |
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Dr. Tracy Sides and Dr. Erin Krebs, along with the Pain/Opioid Consortium of Research team, launched an initiative to produce a series of “infographics” which summarize results from a health services research study that is relevant to patients with chronic pain, opioid use, or opioid use disorder. Veteran input informs each stage of the production process. The infographic highlighted here shares information about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Chronic Pain in Veterans. Click the link below to view and share a copy of the infographic. All current Pain/Opioid CORE infographics are available on their website. |
