Our Research

Ongoing Studies

Adapting and Implementing a Nurse Care Management Model to Care for Rural Patients with Chronic Pain
  • Funder: National Institute of Nursing Research/National Institutes of Health (UG3NR020930)

Over 1 in 5 individuals in the United States suffer from chronic pain, which has negative effects on quality of life, mental health, and physical function. Those living in rural areas not only have higher rates of chronic pain and poorer health outcomes but also are less likely to receive evidence-based non-pharmacological treatments for chronic pain. In this NIH HEAL Initiative study, we are adapting and implementing a nurse care management model in health systems serving rural patients with chronic pain to provide care coordination, cognitive behavioral therapy, and referrals to a remotely delivered exercise program.
Addressing Loneliness in Primary Care Patients on Chronic Opioids to Prevent Opioid Misuse
  • Funder: National Institute on Drug Abuse/National Institutes of Health (R34DA058325)

Loneliness, which is the perceived feeling of insufficient personal relationships, is related to higher risk for inappropriate opioid use and opioid use disorders in patients who are taking opioids long-term. Our study seeks to pilot test the evidence-based loneliness interventions of psychological therapy and social navigation in patients on chronic opioids treated in primary care practices, to determine if reducing loneliness can lower opioid misuse.

Publications: Comparing cognitive behavioral therapy and social prescribing in patients with loneliness on long-term opioid therapy to reduce opioid misuse: protocol for a randomized controlled trial. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Sep 2024. 

Supporting Unhealthy Substance use care Through a whole person Approach and user centered INtegration into primary care (SUSTAIN)

One third of U.S. adults engage in unhealthy alcohol use and almost 50 million U.S. adults use illicit drugs in any given year. While the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends screening for both unhealthy alcohol and drug use, few primary care clinicians regularly do so and even fewer routinely provide patients with interventions for unhealthy substance use (USU), defined broadly as ranging from misuse of any substance to substance use disorder. The goal of the SUSTAIN study is to codesign with primary care practice champions and patients a whole person approach to caring for patients with USU. The change packages will then be implemented and studied in clinics throughout the WWAMI region Practice and Research Network (WPRN) and the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network (ACORN). 

Publications: Supporting Unhealthy Substance use care Through a whole person Approach and user centered INtegration into primary care (SUSTAIN): Study protocol for a type 2 hybrid effectiveness-implementation trial. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment Apr 2025. 

Nasal steroids, irrigation, oral antibiotics and subgroup targeting for effective management of sinusitis (NOSES)

In the United States, one in seven adults every year are diagnosed with Acute rhinosinusitis ARS every year (for a total of 30 million office visits), resulting in one in five adults being prescribed antibiotics. However, most patients do not benefit from antibiotics as their symptoms are caused by a viral infection. The project team’s goal is to improve outcomes for patients with ARS by understanding for whom antibiotics, intranasal corticosteroids, supportive care, or watchful waiting are most likely to provide benefit.

Adapting and Pilot Testing a Loneliness Intervention for Cancer Survivors
  • Funder: Hutchinson Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research

An estimated 36% of the more than 18 million cancer survivors in the U.S. experience loneliness, which can lead to poorer mental and physical health outcomes. This project seeks to adapt and test the feasibility of a social prescribing intervention in cancer survivors. We will use the ADAPT-ITT model to adapt an existing, evidence-based social prescribing intervention for cancer survivors and then test it in a pilot randomized controlled trial with participants from the WWAMI region Practice and Research Network.