201654 Framing policy relevant research questions and designing the study

Sunday, November 8, 2009: 3:55 PM

Susmita Pati, MD, MPH , PolicyLab, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
This session focuses on policy relevant research questions and study designs. Research collaboration with policymakers at the front-end of the research process greatly increases a study's policy impact. Framing solution-oriented research questions helps ensure the study will identify areas for actionable policy or programmatic change. Policy relevant research necessitates engagement with community stakeholders and municipal leaders about the research needed to inform policies. To incorporate these principles, participants will be taught key criteria to assess their research process from the front-end to strengthen its policy impact. This session also examines how policy relevant research is incorporated into study design. Participants will gain tools in designing studies that seek to ensure policy relevance while also maximizing scientific rigor and timely results. Multiple models that incorporate questions of sustainability and policy relevance from PolicyLab's portfolio will be examined.

Learning Objectives:
Demonstrate how to frame a solution-oriented research question. Discuss how to use research to mobilize actionable policy and programmatic change. Identify concrete strategies to enhance the policy impact of research.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: Dr. Pati an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and an attending physician at CHOP. She is a Senior Fellow with the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics at the Wharton School, an associate scholar in the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania, and faculty mentor to Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars. Dr. Pati specializes in health services research with a focus on investigating the impact of public policy on the health of underserved children and families. Supported by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the Commonwealth Fund, her current research projects examine predictors of Medicaid retention, the relationship between maternal health literacy and child health outcomes, and methods to tailor pediatric health supervision to individual needs. Dr. Pati received an A.B. cum laude in biochemistry from Harvard-Radcliffe College in 1992 and completed her medical education at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine in 1996. She was a pediatric resident and chief resident at Babies and Children’s Hospital in New York where she received the Edward C. Curnen Jr. Award for compassionate clinical service. In 2002, she completed a post-doctoral general academic fellowship with a Master’s in Public Health in epidemiology from Columbia University. She received the 2001 Fellow Clinical Research Award from the Society for Pediatric Research for her study comparing child health expenditures in managed care and fee-for-service. In 2002, she joined the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania and CHOP. Dr. Pati is board certified in pediatrics, practices inpatient and outpatient general pediatrics, and is a member of the advisory board to the Community Pediatrics and Advocacy Program at CHOP. She specializes in health services research with a focus on investigating the impact of public policy on the health of underserved children and families. Supported by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development and the Commonwealth Fund, her current research projects examine predictors of Medicaid retention, the relationship between maternal health literacy and child health outcomes, and methods to tailor pediatric health supervision to individual needs. Based on her work to date, she was nominated for the 2008 Marjorie A. Bowman New Investigator Award at Penn. She also serves as a member the Board of Trustees for the Medical Center Nursery School in Northern Manhattan and the Board of Directors of Public Citizens for Children & Youth in Philadelphia.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Achieving Evidence-Based Health Policy: Using mixed methods to ensure policy impact
See more of: APHA-Learning Institute (APHA-LI)