# Multidisciplinary Surgical Decision Making for Older, High Risk Patients

> **NIH NIH R03** · DENVER RESEARCH INSTITUTE · 2024 · $127,612

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Current surgical consent practices are inadequate for older adults undergoing high-risk procedures. A
true understanding of the long-term health complications of an operation is difficult to achieve in one
conversation. To address this issue, our institution implemented a multidisciplinary preoperative decision-making
conference in 2016. To create a more patient-centric discussion, we started including patients in these meetings
in January 2022. Our pilot data has led us to the conclusion that multidisciplinary discussions for high-risk
surgeries in older adults should be the paradigm for decision-making in these complex situations. This
GEMSSTAR proposal is designed to understand the impact of including older adult patients and caregiver(s) in
a multidisciplinary preoperative discussion and to use a shared decision-making framework to optimize the
meeting structure.
The aims of this proposal are to:
1)Identify communication practices of healthcare providers during multidisciplinary high-risk surgical decision-
making discussions that facilitate or limit patient/caregiver engagement.
2)Determine the impact of older adult and caregiver(s) participation in multidisciplinary group discussions on
their high-risk surgical decision
3)Identify critical components to ensure healthcare provider engagement in multidisciplinary high-risk
discussions with patients.
With the support and expertise of the Denver VA HSR&D, we will be able to clarify the benefits of these
discussions and refine the structure model for multidisciplinary surgical decision-making conferences.
Successful completion of this project will allow Dr Jones to become an expert in surgical decision-making to
apply for a VA Career Development Award and further disseminate this model of care.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11013235
- **Project number:** 7R03AG082981-02
- **Recipient organization:** DENVER RESEARCH INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Teresa S Jones
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $127,612
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2025-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11013235

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11013235, Multidisciplinary Surgical Decision Making for Older, High Risk Patients (7R03AG082981-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11013235. Licensed CC0.

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