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Dr. Charles Jonassaint Awarded PCORI Support for CBT Study

 

Dr. Charles Jonassaint, PhD, MPH, has been awarded funding by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) for an upcoming study titled “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Real-time pain-management Intervention for Sickle cell via Mobile Applications (CaRISMA).”

PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. 

“This project was selected for PCORI funding not only for its scientific merit and commitment to engaging patients and other healthcare stakeholders in a major study conducted in real-world settings, but also for its potential to answer an important question about the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy and fill a crucial evidence gap,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. “We look forward to following the study’s progress and working with the University of Pittsburgh to share its results.”

A core investigator with the Center for Behavioral Health and Smart Technology, Dr. Jonassaint will be researching whether a non-pharmacological method for treating pain in patients with sickle cell disease is effective. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) will be offered to patients via their own mobile phones, and Dr. Jonassaint’s study will focus on comparing the effectiveness of this intervention with those of community organizations and services here in Pittsburgh.

“CBT is very specialized, there aren’t as many trained therapists and it’s not always as accessible,” Dr. Jonassaint notes. “Why use this tool if it isn’t more effective than other resources?”

Typically, patients with sickle cell disease need many in-person sessions of CBT to see improvement, but often patients may be low-resource and cannot get consistent access to face-to-face care.

CBT intervention was developed here at Pitt through research conducted at the Clinical and Translational Science Institute. This will be the first time this tool is being used in a large trial for sickle cell disease patients, so patient input will be very significant. Other CBT services like “Beating the Blues,” a program that treats depression via online delivery of CBT, have been found to be very effective. However, choosing this particular population of patients presents unique challenges.

“Less than 50 percent of sickle cell disease patients have access to a computer, but many more do have cell phones,” Dr. Jonassaint explains. “Delivering our intervention in this way seems like a better option, and it’s something that’s been requested by our patients.”

Dr. Jonassaint says that the greatest challenge for this study is getting patients enrolled and maintaining their involvement. He notes that with studies relating to sickle cell disease, often less than 50 percent of enrollment is reached.

“I’ve been researching sickle cell disease for over 15 years,” Dr. Jonassaint says. “It’s not as popular, or as well-funded, so it chooses you.”

PCORI often supports foundational work in nontraditional ways. This funding award will allow Dr. Jonassaint to bring in community-based partners and fund them as co-investigators.

“We’re not trying to come in with all the answers,” Dr. Jonassaint explains. “We want to work with these organizations in the community and ask, ‘How can we make this work for you?’”

This funding support will fund Dr. Jonassaint’s research for three and a half years, with the first year being spent working in the community with organizations that support sickle cell disease patients.

“We really had to work with patients and our community partners for the concept, design, and implementation of this study,” Dr. Jonassaint says. “It takes a bit of time and effort, but it’s critical to the success of this study to get to work with these organizations.”

To learn more about Dr. Jonassaint’s funding award and his upcoming research, visit the study’s project page on PCORI’s website.

June 7th, 2019