The National Eczema Association (NEA) has been approved for a $250,000 funding award through the Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award Program, an initiative of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
The award will support a project titled “Paving the Way towards Meaningful Partnerships: Fostering Regional PCOR to Enhance Eczema Outcomes.”
The award period spans two years, from February 1, 2024 through Jan 31, 2026.
Eczema treatment is rapidly evolving, making patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) vital to advance care and decision-making that aligns with patient-centric outcomes and preferences.
Working with academic institutions, researchers and patient communities, NEA will recruit a diverse group of eczema stakeholders to form six regional research hubs that will help identify priority topics for future patient centered PCOR and comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) on eczema.
NEA will develop regional engagement frameworks highlighting patient partnerships to guide future eczema PCOR and CER applicable to a diverse patient population.
The PCORI Engagement Award will be directed by Wendy Smith Begolka, MBS, chief strategy officer at NEA and Jessica K. Johnson, MPH, director of community engagement at NEA.
“We are grateful for the support from PCORI for this important work to promote the continued engagement of patients as research partners,” says Smith Begolka in a news release. “As the list of FDA-approved eczema treatments is growing, the need for patient-centered research to support informed decision-making and direct future research investments is becoming increasingly important.”
The project has promising applicability and scalability to integrate the diverse lived patient experience, including that of underrepresented communities. Long-term, the results of this effort will help improve both the quality of life and health outcomes for eczema patients and support increased communication between patients and eczema providers. Moreover, the eczema patient engagement frameworks established in this project will provide a structured model to ensure meaningful contribution in eczema research by both patient/caregiver and researcher stakeholders alike.
For more information on the PCORI Engagement Award and NEA’s funded project, visit here.
