HEAR-PC: Advancing Hearing Health in Aging: Multilevel Factors and Pragmatic Solutions in Primary Care
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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT This is a submission by Danielle S. Powell, AuD, PhD for an NIA Career Development Award (K23). Dr. Powell is committed to being a leader in hearing and health for older adults. She is an audiologist, epidemiologist, and health services researcher in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Maryland College Park. Dr. Powell’s research focuses on improving the health and well-being of older adults with hearing loss— this project aims to improve primary care provider’s ability to support access to hearing care and education for older adults. This proposed 5-year training plan accelerates Dr. Powell’s career development as a patient-oriented researcher and leader in advancing hearing health for older adults through training in: 1) advanced methodologies for electronic health records (EHR) including large language models and natural language processing; 2) intervention design following principles of implementation science; and 3) clinical trials for pragmatic implementation in older adults. She will acquire these skills through intensive interactions with her mentoring team, advanced coursework and workshops, guided research, and integrated professional and leadership development. Dr. Powell’s mentorship team and institutional resources are exceptional. Dr. Powell’s primary mentors are nationally recognized leaders in aging research— Dr. McCoy as a physician and leader in improving care delivery for older adults and those with diabetes, and Dr. Chen as a leader in health and aging policy. This pair will supervise her overall research, career, and professional development. Dr. Powell is supported by 3 exceptional co-mentors who specialize in her training goals of advanced EHR methodology and large language models (Philip Resnik), intervention design for older adults (Hillary Lum), and clinical trials for hearing and older adults (Nicholas Reed). With funding from the Alzheimer’s Association, Dr. Powell demonstrated hearing concerns or loss is not commonly prioritized by providers for many older adults, despite recognition of importance due to limited resources. The next research steps are to support primary care practices (PCPs) and existing workflows to fill gaps in hearing care access. Thus, the study objectives are to 1) identify multilevel factors which influence hearing loss identification, discussion and hearing care access in primary care, 2) co-design a hearing health resource toolkit with a community advisory board to use within existing primary care workflows, and 3) pilot the intervention for feasibility assessment for a future pragmatic study. The culmination of this career development award will assure that Dr. Powell gains the advanced research skills and knowledge to conduct a full-scale effectiveness implementation trial of an embedded pragmatic hearing health resource intervention for use with PCPs and older adults. Upon completion she will be well positioned to begin her independent research career as a leader striving to improve how hearing care is accessed and incorporated into existing health systems for older adults, leading hearing policy and health delivery initiatives at the local, regional, and national level.
