| Nurses Calling Patients to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease
Who is the intervention targeting?
Primary care providers and African American patients with diabetes and hypertension and/or hypercholesterolemia
What intervention is being evaluated?
Nurses call patients monthly (for 12 months) to discuss their cardiovascular disease risk management. The telephone intervention conversations contain both standard and tailored components. At each call, certain topics will be discussed based on an assessment of the patient’s knowledge and stage of behavior change. Nurses then contact providers at 3, 6, and 9 months to provide patient updates and to facilitate medication management. Additionally, all nurses receive training in community health, cultural sensitivity, and motivational interviewing.
Where is this intervention taking place?
Community based primary care clinics affiliated with an academic medical center
Lead Organization
Duke University Medical Center
Why might this approach work?
The inability for patients to achieve accepted targets of chronic disease control likely arises from a complex interaction of patient treatment non-adherence and providers’ lack of treatment intensification (clinical inertia). This intervention targets both patients and providers, addresses multiple chronic conditions contributing to CVD risk, is tailored to the needs of vulnerable, high-risk patients, and uses existing clinical infrastructure including nurses to facilitate the intervention.
How will this intervention be evaluated?
350 patients are being recruited prior to an upcoming appointment with their primary care provider and are randomized into either a control or intervention group upon enrollment. Patients in the control group will receive educational materials about cardiovascular disease reduction. Clinical outcomes will be measured at baseline and 12 months. They include: Systolic Blood Pressure, Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), and LDL Cholesterol. Health behavior outcomes that will be assessed include: Aspirin use, Medication adherence, Diet, Exercise, Alcohol use, Smoking status, and Weight. This study will examine the cost of implementing the intervention on a larger scale and use qualitative methodology to assess patients’ and clinicians’ perceptions of potential barriers, facilitators and challenges of disseminating the intervention.
Principal Investigators:
Hayden B. Bosworth, PhD
Research Professor, Duke University Medical Center
Benjamin Powers, MD
Assistant Professor, Duke University Medical Center
For More Information
Please contact:
Celine Koropchak, Project Coordinator
Korop001@mc.duke.edu |
