Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Mar 29;17(1):50.
doi: 10.1186/s12874-017-0321-9.

Practical partnered research to improve weight loss among overweight/obese veterans: lessons from the trenches

Mona AuYoung  1 , Laura J Damschroder  2   3 , Linda Kinsinger  4 , Tannaz Moin  5   6   7 , Caroline R Richardson  2   3   8
Affiliations

Practical partnered research to improve weight loss among overweight/obese veterans: lessons from the trenches

Mona AuYoung et al. BMC Med Res Methodol. .

Abstract

Background: Obesity and obesity-related conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, are a major issue for Veteran health. Veterans Health Administration (VA) researchers and health systems leaders have worked separately and together to provide more effective weight management programs for Veterans. Although randomized clinical trials are often considered the gold standard for establishing efficacy of interventions in controlled circumstances, pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) provide agility for translation.

Main text: VA researchers and health system leaders collaboratively designed a PCT to compare the Diabetes Prevention Program (VA-DPP) to usual care (MOVE!®) in promoting weight loss and glycemic control among overweight/obese Veterans with prediabetes. Together, they navigated the tensions that exist between quality improvement and research activities, facing challenges but reaping significant rewards. Early findings led to updated national guidance for delivering obesity treatment in VA.

Short conclusion: Partnered research and the use of PCTs can be powerful strategies for accelerating evidence-based findings into practice. Collaborative partnerships between researchers and health systems leaders can help enhance and sustain translation in real-world settings.

Keywords: Implementation; Partnered research; Pragmatic clinical trials; Veterans; Weight loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Kilbourne AM, Atkins D. Partner or perish: VA health services and the emerging bi-directional paradigm. J Gen Intern Med. 2014;29(Suppl 4):817–9. doi: 10.1007/s11606-014-3050-3. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Sibbald SL, Tetroe J, Graham ID. Research funder required research partnerships: a qualitative inquiry. Implementation science : IS. 2014;9:176. doi: 10.1186/s13012-014-0176-y. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Glasgow RE, Chambers D. Developing robust, sustainable, implementation systems using rigorous, rapid and relevant science. Clin Transl Sci. 2012;5(1):48–55. doi: 10.1111/j.1752-8062.2011.00383.x. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Riley WT, Glasgow RE, Etheredge L, Abernethy AP. Rapid, responsive, relevant (R3) research: a call for a rapid learning health research enterprise. Clin Transl Med. 2013;2(1):10. doi: 10.1186/2001-1326-2-10. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Frenk J. Balancing relevance and excellence: organizational responses to link research with decision making. Soc Sci Med. 1992;35(11):1397–404. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(92)90043-P. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types