Ohio State to receive $16.6M award to study mental, emotional recovery from traumatic bodily injuries
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Millions of Americans experience a traumatic injury each year. Traditional recovery plans focus on healing visible injuries while the emotional and mental scars are often left untreated. Researchers at The Ohio State University College of Medicine want to change that.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has approved a five-year $16.6 million funding award for researchers at Ohio State College of Medicine to study a new treatment approach where individuals impacted by trauma receive care that equally prioritizes psychological and emotional health alongside physical recovery.
The Healing and Empowerment Actions for Recovery from Trauma (HEART) trial is a multi-center trial that will compare a patient-centered approach that addresses the physical and psychosocial needs of those impacted by trauma to current programming that focuses on physical recovery.
“We’re good at fixing what we can see – the cuts and broken bones – but often don’t pay enough attention to the hurt feelings and worries that come with these injuries,” said Carmen Quatman, MD, PhD, principal investigator, clinical associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and orthopaedic surgeon at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. “This research focuses on filling critical gaps of support for the psychosocial needs of patients and caregivers during recovery. We want to make sure this treatment approach is scalable and has the potential to be embraced nationwide.”
The HEART trial will follow patients 18 years of age and older who suffer a physical trauma that requires orthopaedic surgical treatment for moderate to severe injury. Over the course of 12 months, researchers will compare the effectiveness of a comprehensive trauma recovery program to standard care on patient anxiety, mental health, acute healthcare utilization, pain, and substance use.
The study will also consider how these two treatment approaches impact caregiver anxiety, mental health, acute healthcare utilization, pain and substance use as well as healthcare worker burnout, confidence in trauma patient outcomes and the impact of trauma recovery programming on healthcare personal well-being.
“Patient-centered research puts the spotlight on outcomes that matter most to people and provides families and individuals with evidence to make informed healthcare decisions,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook, MD. “By addressing a key evidence gap in orthopaedic trauma care, this study has the potential to improve patient outcomes and relevance of care. We look forward to following its progress.”
The HEART trial is a multi-disciplinary collaborative effort with the Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Psychiatry and Behavioral Health; School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences; the Center for the Advancement of Team Science, Analytics, and Systems Thinking in Health Services and Implementation Science Research (CATALYST); and the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Evaluation Studies at The Ohio State University College of Public Health.
Collaborating sites include Johns Hopkins University, Vanderbilt University, University of Maryland, University of Colorado, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and Hennepin County Medical Center. The team will also partner with trauma recovery program experts from the Evellere Group.
PCORI is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fund research designed to provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. The funding award to Ohio State College of Medicine has been approved pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI and issuance of a formal award contract.