Models of Peer Support to Remediate Post-Intensive Care Syndrome: A Report Developed by the Society of Critical Care Medicine Thrive International Peer Support Collaborative.

OBJECTIVES: Patients and caregivers can experience a range of physical, psychologic, and cognitive problems following critical care discharge. The use of peer support has been proposed as an innovative support mechanism. DESIGN: We sought to identify technical, safety, and procedural aspects of existing operational models of peer support, among the Society of Critical Care Medicine Thrive Peer Support Collaborative. We also sought to categorize key distinctions between these models and elucidate barriers and facilitators to implementation. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Seventeen Thrive sites from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia were represented by a range of healthcare professionals. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Via an iterative process of in-person and email/conference calls, members of the Collaborative defined the key areas on which peer support models could be defined and compared, collected detailed self-reports from all sites, reviewed the information, and identified clusters of models. Barriers and challenges to implementation of peer support models were also documented. Within the Thrive Collaborative, six general models of peer support were identified: community based, psychologist-led outpatient, models-based within ICU follow-up clinics, online, groups based within ICU, and peer mentor models. The most common barriers to implementation were recruitment to groups, personnel input and training, sustainability and funding, risk management, and measuring success. CONCLUSIONS: A number of different models of peer support are currently being developed to help patients and families recover and grow in the postcritical care setting.

Improved Adherence to Vision Self-monitoring with the Vision and Memory Stimulating (VMS) Journal for Non-neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration during a Randomized Controlled Trial.

OBJECTIVE: An educational, interactive journal [Vision and Memory Stimulating (VMS) journal] was developed to boost patient confidence and promote long-term adherence with weekly vision self-monitoring in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients at risk for vision loss from new-onset neovascularization. METHODS: In a multicenter randomized controlled trial, 198 subjects with intermediate stage, non-neovascular AMD received the VMS journal or followed usual care (e.g. their doctor's instructions for vision monitoring; Amsler grid). At 6 and/or 12 months post-enrollment, 157 subjects completed a questionnaire on vision self-monitoring. RESULTS: At 6 and 12 months, respectively, 85% and 80% of the VMS journal subjects reported vision monitoring at least weekly, which represent statistically significant 7.1 and 4.2 times greater odds than the 50% of controls who monitored weekly at both follow-up times (p<0.001). At 6 and 12 months, respectively, 29% and 25% of controls indicated that they had not checked their vision in the past 6 months, while only 1.5% and 5% of the VMS journal subjects reported no vision self-monitoring. At 6 and 12 months, respectively, only 15% and 13% of the VMS journal subjects vs. 53% and 44% of the controls reported that they did not feel confident that they were taking care of their sight by self-monitoring (p<0.001). Usual care controls had statistically significant 6.7 and 5.0 times greater odds of reporting non-confidence at 6 and 12 months, respectively. There was no statistically significant change in weekly vs. less frequent self-monitoring between the groups (p=0.68), with 81% of all subjects reporting no change in frequency between 6 and 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: These findings support the efficacy of the VMS journal for increasing vision self-monitoring adherence and confidence, in addition to promoting persistence in weekly monitoring over the course of a year in AMD subjects at risk for exudative retinal changes.

Improving behavioral health satisfaction assessment: measuring patients' perceptions.

In order to focus on and improve key aspects of patient satisfaction in its behavioral health programs, Catholic Health East (CHE) enhanced its measurement methodology. In an effort to be consistent with the federal government's movement from measuring patient advocacy programs to measuring patients' perceptions, CHE transitioned to behavior-based questions. These questions give clear targets for program goals and initiatives by objectively measuring whether certain events and desired staff behaviors occurred during treatment, rather than subjectively ranking attributes of institution-defined service. Through this change in approach, CHE may better align its care and services with patients' wants and needs, as illustrated by four case examples.

Advances in knowledge management for pharmaceutical research and development.

There are two assumptions that are taken for granted in the pharmaceutical industry today. Firstly, that we can generate an unprecedented amount of drug-related information along the research and development (R&D) pipeline, and secondly, that researchers are more connected to each other than they have ever been, owing to the internet revolution of the past 15 years or so. Both of these aspects of the modern pharmaceutical company have brought many benefits to the business. However, the pharmaceutical industry is currently under fire due to allegations of decreased productivity despite significant investments in R&D, which if left to continue at the present pace, will reach almost US 60 billion dollars by 2006. This article explores the role of knowledge in the industry and reviews recent developments and emerging opportunities in the field of knowledge management (KM) as it applies to pharmaceutical R&D. It is argued that systematic KM will be increasingly necessary to optimize the value of preceding advances in high-throughput approaches to R&D, and to fully realize the anticipated increase in productivity. The application of KM principles and practices to the business can highlight opportunities for balancing the current reliance on blockbuster drugs with a more patient-centric focus on human health, which is now becoming possible.