R01AG070252

A Layered Examination of the Patient Experience to Elucidate the Role of Palliative Care in Surgical Care for Seriously Ill Older Adults - Project Summary

Over 1 million older (=65 years) adults with serious illness have major surgery or severe trauma each year. After surgery or trauma, older seriously ill patients are at risk for increased healthcare use, functional and cognitive decline, and mortality. National quality guidelines highlight that palliative care focused on aligning treatments with health goals, improving quality of life, alleviating physical and psychological suffering, and addressing social needs, should be provided alongside surgical care at all stages of serious illness. Palliative care for hospitalized seriously ill patients is associated with reduced symptoms and less healthcare utilization after discharge. Although seriously ill surgical patients benefit from palliative care, they are less likely than other hospitalized patients to receive it; this is in part due to research gaps that have inhibited implementation of practical palliative care interventions for older seriously ill surgical patients. Gaps include a dearth of data on patient-oriented surgical outcomes such as pain, depression, and caregiving that can be targeted by palliative care, methodological barriers to measuring palliative care delivery in surgical practice, and little understanding of contextual factors that influence implementation of palliative care in surgery.

The proposed study will address these gaps by providing an innovative and layered examination of the role of palliative care in surgery. The study has three specific aims.

Aim 1 identifies a cohort of seriously ill older surgical patients (=66y) using Health and Retirement Study data linked to Medicare claims, and determines the association between direct targets of palliative care (pain, depression, and caregiving needs) and less proximal benefits (reduced healthcare utilization) to demonstrate the important role of palliative care in surgery.

Aim 2 identifies a retrospective cohort of older seriously ill surgical patients (=66y) in a large regional health system and uses natural language processing in electronic health data linked to Medicare claims to identify palliative care processes (goals of care discussions, healthcare proxy documentation, pain and caregiver assessments) delivered during the surgical episode. The association between palliative care and healthcare utilization in the year after surgical discharge will be tested.

Aim 3 uses qualitative interviews and direct observations to obtain an in-depth understanding of contextual factors influencing implementation of palliative care processes in the care of seriously ill older surgical patients (=65 years).

This proposal uses complementary data sources to assess patient-centered outcomes in older seriously ill surgical patients, uses novel methods to evaluate the impact of palliative care processes on outcomes, and deeply examines barriers to implementation of perioperative palliative care in clinical practice. These results will directly inform bedside clinical decisions and the implementation of targeted palliative care interventions to improve care for seriously ill older surgical patients.

Brigham & Womens Hospital

TO ENCOURAGE BIOMEDICAL, SOCIAL, AND BEHAVIORAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING DIRECTED TOWARD GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGING PROCESS AND THE DISEASES, SPECIAL PROBLEMS, AND NEEDS OF PEOPLE AS THEY AGE. THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING HAS ESTABLISHED PROGRAMS TO PURSUE THESE GOALS. THE DIVISION OF AGING BIOLOGY EMPHASIZES UNDERSTANDING THE BASIC BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES OF AGING. THE DIVISION OF GERIATRICS AND CLINICAL GERONTOLOGY SUPPORTS RESEARCH TO IMPROVE THE ABILITIES OF HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS TO RESPOND TO THE DISEASES AND OTHER CLINICAL PROBLEMS OF OLDER PEOPLE. THE DIVISION OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL RESEARCH SUPPORTS RESEARCH THAT WILL LEAD TO GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE SOCIAL, CULTURAL, ECONOMIC AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT BOTH THE PROCESS OF GROWING OLD AND THE PLACE OF OLDER PEOPLE IN SOCIETY. THE DIVISION OF NEUROSCIENCE FOSTERS RESEARCH CONCERNED WITH THE AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN THE NERVOUS SYSTEM AS WELL AS THE RELATED SENSORY, PERCEPTUAL, AND COGNITIVE PROCESSES ASSOCIATED WITH AGING AND HAS A SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM: TO EXPAND AND IMPROVE THE SBIR PROGRAM, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM: TO STIMULATE AND FOSTER SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION.

93.866 - Aging Research

National Institute on Aging (NIA) [HHS - NIH]

Boston, Massachusetts 021156110 United States

Single Zip Code

NIH Research Project Grant (Parent R01 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (PA-20-185)

Amendment Since initial award the total obligations have increased 693% from $504,941 to $4,002,174.