Written by Kim Furlow, manager of communications for the Institute for Public Health
Rapid Cycle D&I Add-On (RAD) funding is offered by the Center for Dissemination and Implementation at the Institute for Public Health, and the WashU Implementation Science Center for Cancer Control. RAD a funding mechanism that enables investigators to rapidly “add-on” measurements or pilot data collection to an existing observational or experimental research study to better understand an aspect of dissemination and implementation.
Our center recently checked in with two researchers who have received RAD awards to find out how their subsequent projects fared and how they feel that the add-on funding helped boost their projects.
Mary C. Politi, PhD, professor in the Division of Public Health Sciences, Washington University School of Medicine received support for her project, “Discussing care costs during shared decision-making about slow-growing prostate cancer”. The funding supported an established intervention called CostTalk, which provides training to urologic surgeons in how to talk to patients about cancer costs and shared decision-making.
Politi explains, “Our study is investigating how cost conversations could be incorporated into shared decision making about low-risk, slow-growing prostate cancer. The team of urologic surgeons engaged in this project are supportive and forward thinking about the intervention. They have suggested adaptations and modifications to the intervention to improve workflow and patient care conversations about this topic.”
Politi says the RAD funding enabled her team to study, document and track adaptations to the intervention for current and future work. “We are using well-established adaptation frameworks and implementation outcome measures, and we will use our findings to recommend implementation facilitators in subsequent work,” she adds.
Karen Joynt-Maddox, primary investigator for the project, “Strategies and Implementation Outcomes related to Bundled Payments for Care Improvement-Advanced (BPCI-A) and socially high risk populations” says RAD funds helped her team advance their project past its anticipated end. The purpose of her team’s study was to conduct a national survey of hospital leaders’ decisions to join BPCI-A, and identify strategies BPCI-A participants are using to improve care and achieve success.
“We used the RAD grant to complete interviews at BJH and Christian Hospital with the leaders in each organization who were working to reduce readmissions among patients with significant social risk factors, like poverty, housing instability, or food insecurity,” says Joynt Maddox. “The findings from those interviews served as pilot data in subsequent work by a junior faculty member in Cardiology on the intersection of racial equity and health policy.”
The benefits of receiving RAD funding are clear. The research can include elements of dissemination and implementation and the add-on funding can help increase the spectrum of work accomplished within each project. Read more about RAD and other available funding opportunities at the Center for Dissemination and Implementation.