December 2018 Research Thursdays Summary

key words:  research literacy, funding and grants, sharing related research in the field, research in integrative health

The December Research Roundup

Review of the "Research and Metrics Thursdays" theme from the public Facebook Page and newsletter

1. Mindfulness program for the management of chronic pain, a Mindful.org article, What Mindfulness for Opioid Addiction Looks Like
2. Evidence-based Acupuncture.  Research summaries and EBA Connect program.
3. Research Funding Opportunity--NCCIH and NIH funding if you work in pain management or addiction, especially the field of opioid addiction.  Check out the new (12.10.2018) funding announcements related to the NIH HEAL initiative. Learn more about the HEAL initiative at this webpage.  If you have heard me talk about the National Pain Strategy document the past couple years, HEAL builds upon parts of the work laid out in that very large federal public document.

Recommended Studies to Read (started this in the summer and fall newsletters)

• December
• "Case Reports of Acupuncturists and Massage Therapists at Mayo Clinic:  New Allies in Expediting Patient Diagnoses".  Explore March/April 2018.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2017.02.008
• November
• Acupuncture in the Emergency Department (ED), Allina system of Minnesota.  #EDacupuncture
• Adam S. Reinstein, Lauren O. Erickson, Kristen H. Griffin, Rachael L. Rivard, Christopher E. Kapsner, Michael D. Finch, Jeffery A. Dusek; Acceptability, Adaptation, and Clinical Outcomes of Acupuncture Provided in the Emergency Department:  A Retrospective Pilot Study, Pain Medicine, Volume 18, Issue 1, 1 January 2017, p.169-178. https://doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnv114
• October
• From the Mayo Clinic, St. Mary's and Methodist hospitals, a prospective study of integrative medicine services in an inpatient setting.  
• 87% of the integrative medicine services were massage therapy performed by an NCBTMB certified massage therapist and 9% were acupuncture services by an LAc.  
• Both services were found to statistically significantly decrease pain level post-treatment.  
• Over 1/3 of the hospitalized patients fell asleep during treatment, which researchers found fascinating as future research potential since good quality sleep/rest helps decrease need for medications (whether it is meds to induce sleep or meds to decrease pain because lack of sleep increases pain and other symptoms), and significantly improves outcomes in an environment (inpatient hospital space) that is not naturally conducive to rest.  
• source/citation:  Stephanie D. Clark, Brent A. Bauer, Sairey Vitek, Susanne M. Cutshall.  Effect of Integrative Medicine Services on Pain for Hospitalized Patients at an Academic Health Center.  Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. 2018.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.explore.2018.07.006 
• September--see the newsletter, under "Metrics and Research Thursday" for full list.
• Tai Chi for Fibromyalgia.  study highlight in September (BMJ visual abstract image):  Tai Chi for fibromyalgia significantly improves symptoms compared to exercise, particularly at longer-term (6 months) practice and interventions.  
• My take-away from the article:  keep practicing Tai Chi as part of your health and wellness routine!  
• Wang Chenchen, Scmid Christopher H, Fielding Roger A, Harvey William F, Reid Kieran F, Price Lori Lyn et al.  Effect of tai chi versus aerobic exercise for fibromyalgia: comparative effectiveness randomized controlled trial.  BMJ 2018; 360: k851.  

Recommended Studies to Read in Older Newsletters

• August 2018 newsletter
• Metrics:  Don't underestimate the simplicity and usefulness of patient satisfaction surveys as one of your clinic's metrics
• "We found that hospitals' patient satisfaction scores are useful signals of quality, which surprised me to some extent," said Joseph Doyle, an economist at M.I.T. and one of the studies authors.  
• "Hospitals with more satisfied patients have lower mortality rates, as well as lower readmission rates."  New York Times article. 2017.07.24  
• Original study is a working paper, Evaluating Measures of Hospital Quality by Joseph Doyle, John Graves, and Jonathan Gruber.  National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), working paper no.23166, issued in February 2017.  
• Research and delivery method practicality for teaching self-care basic breathing and meditation techniques:  email and mobile app.  
• This study targeted oncology clinicians, who have a high burn-out rate.  What delivery method (tool) allows ease-of-access and may increase participant compliance for studying a self-care therapy?  possibly email and/or mobile apps.  More research needed.  
• Carie Heeter and Rebecca Lehto.  Meditation App Benefits Hospice and Palliative Care Clinicians.  Oncology Nursing News.  July 31, 2018.  
• July 2018 Newsletter
• Evidence-based Acupuncture. Research summary updating the old WHO statement on recommending acupuncture for specific conditions, Evidence for Acupuncture is Growing Exponentially.
• May 2018 Newsletter
• Spotlight on a research paper out of the Allina Health Systems of Minnesota, one of the Bravewell Legacy system programs, "Cost Savings from Reducing Pain through Delivery of Integrative Medicine Program", published in the peer-reviewed journal JACM.
• citation:  JA Dusek, Griffin KH, Finch MD, Rivard RL, Watson D. Cost Savings from Reducing Pain through Delivery of Integrative Medicine Program.  The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. Jun 2018.  https://doi.org/10.1089/acm.2017.0203

For more on the topic of research

• follow the tag/label in this blog for "research literacy"

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