loading
loading
NIH grant 1K23HL188477-01: Developing and Piloting P3: A Patient-Centered Communication Curriculum for Hypertension Care
Institute: {'code': 'HL', 'abbreviation': 'NHLBI', 'name': 'National Heart Lung and Blood Institute', 'admin_org_id': '12500068', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: Ebiere D Okah. Award: $179928.
Start: 2026-09-05T00:00:00.
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Uncontrolled hypertension is a major public health concern. It is a significant risk factor for heart disease (the
leading cause of death in the United States), and failing to control hypertension costs the U.S. billions each
year. Increasing antihypertensive use is critical to reducing uncontrolled hypertension and preventing
hypertension-related morbidity, mortality, and cost. Experimental studies suggest that enhancing patient-
centered communication improves medication adherence and blood pressure control. The American Medical
Association’s Measure Accurately, Act Rapidly, and Partner with Patients (MAP™) Hypertension program is a
blood pressure quality improvement initiative. Its most promising component, Partner with Patients, comprises
strategies that enhance patient-centeredness (e.g., patient-centered communication, conscientious
prescribing) and strengthen patients’ self-efficacy to improve adherence. However, three key limitations exist:
(1) the absence of communication-skills training; (2) the exclusion of strategies that address hypertensive
patients’ specific communication concerns; and (3) the lack of tools to support patient-centered communication
in time-limited visits. We hypothesize that expanding Partner with Patients to include (1) an innovative
communication curriculum responsive to patient-identified challenges and (2) a tool that facilitates such
communication will improve patient-clinician interactions, medication adherence, and hypertension control.
Using Intervention Mapping, we will co-develop Partner with Patients Plus (P3), comprised of (1) a patient-
centered communication skills training, (2) a communication guide, and (3) education on existing Partner with
Patients materials. We will train family medicine residents at two sites using P3 and assess (a) changes in
communication behaviors; (b) feasibility and acceptability; and (c) exploratory trends in patients’ hypertension
control to inform future power analyses. Findings will provide preliminary data for a cluster-randomized
pragmatic clinical trial to evaluate the impact on blood pressure outcomes among patients with uncontrolled
hypertension. This K23 will provide Dr. Okah with essential training in patient-centered communication,
communication analysis, behavioral interventions, pragmatic clinical trials, and qualitative and advanced
mixed-methods approaches to inform intervention development, under the guidance of mentors with expertise
in these areas. She will also receive didactic training in communication analysis, intervention design, clinical
trials, and mixed-methods research. Upon completion, Dr. Okah will be well positioned to be an independent
health services investigator who develops interventions to improve hypertension outcomes by enhancing
patients’ care experiences and, in turn, treatment adherence.document fetched 2026-09-13 02:45