CreakyJoints and Pfizer Announce $1M in Research Awards

UPPER NYACK, N.Y.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–CreakyJoints® today announces that they have selected the Mayo Clinic and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to each receive a $500K research award funded by Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGLC). Both studies will focus on improving shared decision making among adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their health care providers.

Shared decision making is the focus of two $500K grant awards; #ArthritisPower @CreakyJoints #arthritis Funded by Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning & Change

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John M. Davis, III, MD, MS, associate professor of medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN is the principal investigator for the first project titled, “The Impact of Arthritis Power on Rheumatoid Arthritis Shared Decision Making.” The objective is to improve shared decision making about treatment options and thereby enhance disease outcomes and health-related quality of life for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) by testing the value of engaging patients in use of ArthritisPower™ mobile application for collection of patient-reported symptoms data on a weekly basis during the period between clinic appointments. Information about symptoms will then be viewed on a tablet by the patients and their rheumatology health care providers at the point of care for shared decision making about RA treatment changes.

From UAB, the principal investigator is Huifeng Yun, PhD, a research assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology. Her study is titled, “Integration of Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) and Electronic Health Records (EHR) to Improve Shared Decision Making in Rheumatoid Arthritis.” The aim of the study is to reduce the barriers to shared decision making around clinical decisions in RA management by integrating individual patient reported outcomes (PRO) data collected by RA patients via the ArthritisPower™ research registry with clinical and laboratory data from Electronic Health Records (EHR). The project also aims to educate physicians about patient-clinician communication regarding RA disease activity, symptoms, outcomes, and the potential need for treatment changes based on these collective data.

“We created ArthritisPower because we believe that patients should always be at the center of RA treatment decision-making. These projects rely on information coming directly from patients outside of the clinical setting to take into account patient preferences about medication efficacy and risks, and quality of life indicators that are important to people living with arthritis,” stated Seth Ginsberg, President and Co-Founder of Global Healthy Living Foundation and CreakyJoints. “We’re thrilled that Mayo and UAB will use ArthritisPower to inform their studies and add to our understanding of how arthritis patients think about their symptoms and treatment, and also how they use technology to communicate this information to their health care providers.”

Focusing on Quality Improvement

In late 2016, Global Healthy Living Foundation, parent organization of CreakyJoints, announced the Request for Proposal for this grant program and evaluated submitted proposals in May 2017. The review process prioritized funding projects that focus on using the infrastructure developed for ArthritisPower™ and on shared decision making for RA treatment with an emphasis on quality improvement. The mission of Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning & Change (IGLC) is to partner with the global healthcare community to improve patient outcomes through support of measurable learning and change strategies. Pfizer has no influence over any aspect of the projects and only asks for reports about the results and the impact of the projects to share them publicly. It is anticipated that preliminary results from these studies will be reported as early as 2019.

About ArthritisPower

Created by CreakyJoints and supported by a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), ArthritisPower is the first ever patient-led, patient-centered research registry for joint, bone, and inflammatory skin conditions. The free ArthritisPower mobile and desktop application allows patients to track and share their symptoms and treatments while simultaneously participating in research in a secure and easy manner. ArthritisPower Patient Governors serve as gatekeepers for researchers seeking to access registry data or solicit the community to participate in unique, voluntary studies. To learn more and join ArthritisPower, visit www.ArthritisPower.org

About CreakyJoints

CreakyJoints®, founded in 1999, is the go-to source for millions of arthritis patients and their families world-wide who are seeking education, support, advocacy, and patient-centered research. CreakyJoints is part of the Global Healthy Living Foundation, whose mission is to improve the quality of life for people with chronic illness. For more information and to become a member (for free), visit www.CreakyJoints.org.