Practical partnered research to improve weight loss among overweight/obese veterans: lessons from the trenches

Abstract

BackgroundObesity and obesity-related conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, are a major issue for Veteran health. Veterans Health Administration (VA) researchers and health systems leaders have worked separately and together to provide more effective weight management programs for Veterans. Although randomized clinical trials are often considered the gold standard for establishing efficacy of interventions in controlled circumstances, pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) provide agility for translation.Main textVA researchers and health system leaders collaboratively designed a PCT to compare the Diabetes Prevention Program (VA-DPP) to usual care (MOVE!®) in promoting weight loss and glycemic control among overweight/obese Veterans with prediabetes. Together, they navigated the tensions that exist between quality improvement and research activities, facing challenges but reaping significant rewards. Early findings led to updated national guidance for delivering obesity treatment in VA.Short conclusionPartnered research and the use of PCTs can be powerful strategies for accelerating evidence-based findings into practice. Collaborative partnerships between researchers and health systems leaders can help enhance and sustain translation in real-world settings.

Leveraging multistakeholder engagement to develop an implementation blueprint for a brief trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy in primary care.

“…An important exception is a recent paper that described a five-step researcher-stakeholder engagement process driven by an implementation science framework, which consisted of researchers a) collaborating with health system leaders to plan a shared research agenda; b) engaging with leaders to discuss early study results, receive feedback, and establish buy-in for continued research efforts; c) using evidence to create an implementation blueprint to spread the evidence-based practice to additional health care facilities; d) evaluating the implementation toolkit in real-time clinical practice; and e) continuing to consult with the health system leaders and clinical providers throughout the implementation process (Elwy et al, 2021). The Veteran’s Administration (VA) has also published on “partnered research” approaches to improving care (AuYoung et al, 2017; Yano, 2015; Zulman et al, 2014). Their approach relies heavily on the structure and culture of the VA, which may limit generalizability to other settings.…”