# Enhancing Geriatric Pain Care with Contextual Patient Generated Profiles

> **NIH VA I01** · VA SALT LAKE CITY HEALTHCARE SYSTEM · 2021 · —

## Abstract

Background: Pain is not an inevitable or normal part of aging. However, chronic pain for geriatric patients is
widespread, occurring in approximately 50% of community dwelling adults age 65 or over. Ineffectively treated
chronic pain patients are at risk for poorer quality of life and functional decline. Risk for addiction to opioids
prescribed for pain are increasingly recognized for geriatric pain patients. Evidence suggests that pain in
geriatrics patients is common, challenging to assess, and requires a whole-person approach to diagnosis,
treatment and monitoring. The goal of this study is to refine and test an approach to create contextual Patient
Generated Data (PGD) profiles to guide geriatric pain care.
Significance/Impact: Our proposed work will contribute to effective pain management and delivery of patient
centered care. The proposed work aligns with many areas of high priority for VA including aging Veterans,
pain management, informatics, and whole health and has implications for the redesign of the Electronic
Health Record (EHR).
Innovation: This study includes an innovative approach to patient centered care by examining contextual PGD
contribution in depth in a vulnerable Veteran population with chronic pain.
Specific Aims:
Aim 1: Prioritize content for contextual PGD profiles to support patient-centered care for geriatric Veterans
with chronic pain.
Aim 2: Develop a prototype contextual PGD display and evaluate its usability.
Aim 3: Examine the impact of contextual PGD profile displays on patient adherence, satisfaction, and shared-
decision making in a randomized trial.
Methodology: The study population is Veterans with chronic pain, caregivers involved in their daily lives, and
the primary care clinicians who treat these Veterans in primary care or geriatrics clinics in both urban and
rural settings. Clinicians will include physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, psychologists and
other relevant primary care team members. This is a mixed methods study incorporating focus groups with
clinicians and with Veteran patients and caregivers and systematic evaluation of iterative contributions of
contextual PGD to develop and optimize methods for Veterans to contribute contextual PGD. In addition, VHA
clinicians in primary care and geriatrics clinics will participate in a nominal group technique in which they will
review contextual PGD elements and vote on how important these elements are for their role as a clinician
and in general for the patients’ pain management care. An additional group of PACT members will engage in
a card sort reporting in more detail on the relevance of particular contextual PGD elements. There will be a
randomized comparison at the patient level comparing patient visits that include contextual PGD and those
that do not. Primary outcomes include appropriateness of clinical decisions documented in the chart and
rated by expert clinicians and an assessment of patient satisfaction with pain manageme...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9952556
- **Project number:** 1I01HX003097-01
- **Recipient organization:** VA SALT LAKE CITY HEALTHCARE SYSTEM
- **Principal Investigator:** Jorie Michaela Butler
- **Activity code:** I01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2019-11-01 → 2024-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9952556

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9952556, Enhancing Geriatric Pain Care with Contextual Patient Generated Profiles (1I01HX003097-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9952556. Licensed CC0.

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