CommunityRx

“We want to know that connecting people to community resources during a medical visit ultimately improves health.”

Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau, Newswise (February 21, 2019)

CommunityRx

CommunityRx is a physician-developed, low-intensity health information technology system that engages patients and caregivers at health visits and matches them to community resources to support self-care and improve health outcomes. The objective of this research program is to evaluate the health impact and mechanisms of CommunityRx, and yield an understanding of how best to intervene at the point of care to address patient unmet needs. The development of CommunityRx includes years of engagement and input from community advisory boards, including caregivers, patients, doctors and hospital leadership and staff. This research will inform science, policy and practice in the rapidly growing field of healthcare interventions to address health-related social risks and generate new knowledge about resource connections that promote caregiver and patient health and well-being.

Current Clinical Trials

CommunityRx for Caregivers of Hospitalized Children

This study led by the Lindau Lab is a 12 month double-blind randomized-controlled trial about food security and related needs among parents and other caregivers of hospitalized children. Food security means the availability of food and a person’s ability to access it. We are studying two different ways to give families information about food and other resources during and after a child is discharged from the hospital. We want to learn if one way is better than the other. Findings will yield an understanding of how best to leverage a child’s hospitalization to sensitively and effectively intervene to support food insecure caregivers.

 

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Community Rx for Caregivers of People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementia

This study led by the Lindau Lab and Huang Lab is a 12 month single-blind randomized-controlled trial about unmet needs among caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Unmet needs could include things like food, housing, and social support. The purpose of this study is to help improve the health of caregivers and people with dementia and narrow gaps in health by addressing unmet health and social needs. The goal of this research is to yield an understanding of how best to intervene to address ADRD caregivers’ community resource needs at the point of their own healthcare.

 

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My Diabetes, My Community

This study led by the Huang Lab and Lindau Lab is a 12-month pragmatic clinical trial evaluating the impact of scalable interventions that are designed to support personalized goal setting and self-care through remote delivery of clinical and socioeconomic risk assessment, telephonic care management, and community resource linkage. This highly personalized approach to diabetes care has to potential to improve quality of life of this high-risk population while avoiding adverse drug events. The overall goal of MDMC is to test different programs, including CommunityRx, that help older adults with diabetes manage their care goals.

 

Project Links:

  • Read more on the MDMC website HERE

 

Community Rx for Cardiovascular Disease

This study is led by Drs. Gisselle Corbie-Smith and Gaurav Dave at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and the Lindau Lab. It is a pragmatic clinical trial of CommunityRx among African American/Black adults and children at risk of cardiovascular disease and receiving care at federally qualified health centers in rural North Carolina. The overall objective of this trial is to identify factors that influence implementation of CommunityRx and assess the health impact of a closed-loop referral system in a rural setting.

 

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Community Intervention to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease in Chicago (CIRCL)

The CIRCL study is led by Dr. Abel Kho at Northwestern University with support from the Lindau Lab. It is a hybrid Type 2 effectiveness–implementation trial evaluating a bundle of evidence-based interventions, including CommunityRx, for reducing cardiovascular disease within a Chicago community with a high burden of hypertension. The bundle has been shown effective at increasing blood pressure control when implemented in a large, integrated health system. This study focuses on implementation and evaluation in collaboration with faith-based organizations on the South Side of Chicago.

 

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Project News

New Funding Approved for Missing Pieces Trial

PCORI has approved funding for the Lindau Lab and Kelly Michelson at Northwestern University to conduct a broad pragmatic study of the CommunityRx-Bereavement intervention to support parents after their child’s unexpected or traumatic death. Read more in PCORI’s press release here.

CommunityRx for Cancer Caregivers

Dr. Lindau was recently awarded funding from UChicago’s Comprehensive Cancer Center to pilot a study of the CommunityRx for Cancer Caregivers (CAre) intervention. Our objective is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability CommunityRx-CAre, a low-intensity, information technology-based intervention that systematically engages caregivers at oncology visits and matches them to personalized, local community resources and ongoing support.

New NIH funding!

Drs. Lindau and Huang were recently awarded supplemental funding from the NIH to examine gender roles influencing ADRD caregiver responsibilities and well-being in UChicago Medicine’s Primary Service Area – a predominantly African American/Black population.