Here’s to you, 2014!
Research in Review
With the holiday mayhem concluded and resolutions of improvement on everyone’s mind (getting rid of the extra winter ‘insulation’ likely topping most lists), it is clear that 2015 is now here. Despite 2014 seeming to go by too quickly, over the year our customers were busy raising the bar in research and patient-focused care with breakthrough studies and ingenious ways to engage patients. All of them did amazing work – we would love to take a moment to highlight some of their successes.
Seattle Children’s Hospital
In efforts to eradicate childhood leukemia, researchers at Seattle Children’s Hospital are in phase two of a clinical trial that is developing a revolutionary T-cell therapy. Using immunotherapy techniques, they are reprogramming the body’s T-cells to target enemy cancer cells without harming the normal, healthy ones. Forms built on DatStat’s Data Collection Platform allow for better analysis by using intelligent validations to ensure quality data is being collected. Through these clinical trials, researchers hope to develop a leukemia treatment that is safer and quicker than current treatments (e.g. chemotherapy).
Kaiser Permanente Northern California
Researchers from the CREATE Wellness Project are helping patients with diabetes or a cardiovascular disease reach their clinical goals by providing resources to improve their health management skills. Over the course of three months, patients will participate in several group-based behavioral interventions, as well as one-on-one counselor sessions, to identify methods they can use to control their condition. A baseline and follow-up survey, created with DatStat’s Data Collection Platform, will be administered in order to measure the effectiveness of the program.
Caron Treatment Centers
One of the largest and oldest treatment organizations in the United States, Caron Treatment Centers is nationally recognized for their alcohol and drug addiction treatment programs for adolescents and adults, as well as families affected by the disease addiction. In 2014, they began developing a post-treatment program that they believe will help patients maintain sobriety after returning to their normal environment. Caron enlisted the automation features of the DatStat platform to automatically send out monthly follow-up surveys and, if necessary, staff alerts. Additionally, personalized feedback is given to patients, including progress updates and resources they can use to battle temptation.
Tulane: Highly Vulnerable Children Research
Leading researchers from the Highly Vulnerable Children (HVC) Research Center at Tulane University are evaluating Future Families, a South African organization. The organization provides services and resources to families with orphans and vulnerable children. Using DatStat’s Data Collection Platform’s native remote data collection and multi-lingual features, researchers are administering baseline and follow-up surveys in the Sepedi language to beneficiaries over a two year time period. Results from this evaluation will be used to inform programs and policies to improve resources available to highly vulnerable children.
What Next?
The above examples are only a select few from a plethora of amazing customer projects in health research and patient engagement – making 2014 a spectacular year. We believe 2015 will be even better! Can’t wait to see what our customers, and others, bring to fruition. What project did your team work on in 2014 that pushed the limits in health research and/or patient engagement? Leave a comment to fill us in on your accomplishments.
