June 20, 2012 | June 20, 2012 | The Psychiatric Research Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will receive $640,118 from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to study the mental health needs of rural African-Americans.

PCORI announced the award as part of its Pilot Projects Program, which will address a broad range of questions about methods for engaging patients in various aspects of the research and dissemination process.

Greer Sullivan, M.D., professor of psychiatry and director of the Community Engagement Component of the UAMS Translational Research Institute, will lead the two-year research project at UAMS along with community partners Mary Olson and Naomi Cottoms at Tri-County Rural Health Network.

The UAMS project will compare two approaches (traditional stakeholder focus groups and community deliberative democracy forums) to obtaining community members’ perspectives on mental health needs and approaches to addressing those needs. Community members will be African-Americans in the Arkansas Delta.

PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. 

“The Pilot Projects will improve our understanding of how to conduct research and disseminate research findings in ways that are more responsive to the needs of patients and the health care community,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, M.D. “We are excited to be funding 50 projects nationwide, led by creative and innovative researchers. Their work will help us establish a foundation for patient-centered outcomes research that will give patients, caregivers and clinicians the tools they need every day.” 

PCORI is committing $30 million over two years for the pilot projects, which were selected by PCORI’s Board of Governors through a competitive, multi-stage review process. Proposals were evaluated for their scientific merit and rigor and fit within eight areas of interest outlined in the pilot projects announcement. 

Awards were approved for research institutions in 24 states and the District of Columbia. They include those for projects designed to develop a range of tools and techniques aimed at improving patient-centered care and decision-making; create new patient-centered care measures; and improve delivery of patient-centered counseling and care in various health care settings. 

“PCORI has done more than any other funding source to push the envelope toward incorporating community perspectives on health. It is gratifying to see emphasis placed on including the end user in the development of health interventions. We will all benefit from this approach,” Sullivan said. 

For more information about the PCORI Pilot Projects, visit www.pcori.org.