Research In Practice Blog

2024 was another remarkable year for Clinical Futures! 

As this year comes to a close, we take a moment to reflect on a busy yet rewarding time for the Center. To celebrate, we are revisiting some of our favorite blog posts from the past year. 

1. Rotavirus Vaccination: Preventing Missed Opportunities in the NICU
   
   Rotavirus is highly contagious and causes severe diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration in infants and young children. The current pentavalent rotavirus vaccine (RV5) series must be initiated in babies younger than 15 weeks, so vaccination timing is crucial—however, many neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) avoid vaccinating for fear of in-NICU vaccine-strain transmission from vaccinated to unvaccinated infants. Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a study to examine the risk of transmission of vaccine-strain rotavirus among babies in the NICU.
    
2. Addressing Mental Health for LGBTQ+ Teens - Opportunities for Parents and Pediatricians
   
   LGBTQ+ Adolescents experience more significant negative mental health outcomes. Many must navigate social stigma and rejection, and recent surveillance data revealed that fewer than 40% found their homes to be LGBTQ-affirming.  
   
   Evidence has demonstrated that family support does affect the mental health outcomes of LGBTQ+ youth, so a team of clinical researchers explored whether family support has an impact on mental health outcomes. A data-driven investigation was conducted to assess whether positive family support mitigates the risk of depressive symptoms and suicidality in this population and to frame an understanding of how related primary care interventions could help affect change.

3. Implementing the Virtual Driving Assessment Into Primary Care: A Model That Works
   
   Newly licensed young drivers have a very high crash risk, which is mainly attributable to skill deficits and related driving errors.  Through an innovative initiative made possible by a gift from NJM Insurance, CHOP teams piloted and scaled a process for integrating a novel virtual driving assessment into a busy primary care setting.  

   The virtual driving assessment (VDA) is a tool that has been validated to predict crash outcomes and provides evidence-based feedback and insights for improvement. This laptop-based driving simulation tool—with steering wheel, pedals, and a monitor—was designed for convenience and function, but would it be well-received by teen patients in the primary care setting?
   
   The Possibilities Project, the innovation team working in primary care, partnered with the Center for Injury Research and Prevention and the CHOP Primary Care Network, to understand how best to implement the VDA into a busy practice setting, bringing the evidenced based tool directly to adolescents in the healthcare setting.

4. Using a Nutrition Screener to Help Families Access Benefits
   
   The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, or food stamps) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are key sources of nutrition support for low-income children and families. Previous research has demonstrated that many eligible individuals do not receive these benefits, often because they encounter administrative barriers to accessing these programs. Previous research has also found that families are interested in receiving benefits enrollment assistance in health care settings.  

   A recent study explored the effects of embedding questions about food resources and support into a standardized nutrition screener administered in the pediatric primary care setting and then providing families with expedited follow-up from a resource navigator.

5. Spotlight on Collaboration within Clinical Futures: A Discussion with Members of The Pediatric IDEAS Research Group

   An important element of the mission of Clinical Futures is the dissemination of research findings and recommendations as clinical research resources to translate our research into practice. Through the use of evidence-based practices and guidelines, we work to improve the high value care delivered to children in the CHOP Network and across the nation. Clinical Futures nurtures many purpose-focused collaborations that work to close the research to practice gap to improve outcomes today and informs future best practices for tomorrow. One such group that we focus on in this Q&A is the Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship (IDEAS) Research Group. Learn more about this group, its beginnings, and where the research is heading as we talk with Jeffrey Gerber, MD, PhD, Susan Coffin, MD, MPH, Kevin Downes, MD, Brian Fisher, DO, MSCE, MPH, and Kathleen Chiotos, MD, MSCE.

Click here to see all of the 2024 Research In Practice Blog posts. Look out for our '2024 Year-In-Review' post next week.

Happy New Year!