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UAMS Diabetes Study Gets $400,000 to Meet COVID-19 Restrictions
| LITTLE ROCK — COVID-19 hit as UAMS’ Pearl McElfish, Ph.D., MBA, and her research team were starting a major study comparing diabetes education interventions with diverse populations.
The five-year, $3.73 million Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) award was to support in-person type 2 diabetes prevention education in rural UAMS Regional Campus Family Medical Centers.
Given social distancing restrictions due to the coronavirus, McElfish, vice chancellor for the UAMS Northwest Campus, applied for and recently received an additional $400,000, which will allow the study to continue using interactive video.
The PCORI-funded study involves 600 people with type-2 diabetes and 600 family members. It will compare her team’s Diabetes Self-Management Education models – one for individuals and one for families.
The enhanced funding will pay for the purchase of an iPad for each participant.
“This will allow the study to begin and remain consistent throughout the project period,” McElfish said. “The only thing that will change is we will use telehealth.”
The UAMS Translational Research Institute provided pilot funding and other support for development of the diabetes education models. The institute is supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences at the National Institutes of Health – Clinical and Translational Science Award TL1 TR003109.