Impact
Impacting Veteran health care delivery every day with innovative outcomes research.
Featured Impacts:
Our refinement of clinical measures for rehabilitation, including measures to assess recovery and outcome for patients with stroke and traumatic brain injury, has enabled clinicians to better understand the effect of interventions delivered in acute care, inpatient rehabilitation, and outpatient rehabilitation settings. These measures, including the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory-4 and the Orientation Log, are gold standard measures in the VA Polytrauma network and used in rehabilitation settings across the world.
Our mental health researchers have increased understanding of the key factors that impact veterans with mental illness ability to succeed in work and career. Future work may convey notable impact, including improved employment outcomes in veterans who have historically struggled with vocational functioning. Improved employment outcomes may also positively impact clinical and social outcomes, including fewer psychiatric symptoms, improved quality of life, and better social networks.
Our recently completed study shows that the National Cancer Institute’s Risk Assessment Tool for estimating a person’s future risk for colorectal cancer may also be used to estimate their current risk of advanced colorectal neoplasia (i.e., colorectal cancer and advanced, precancerous polyps). This work is expected to inform patients and providers about when and how to be screened for colorectal cancer.
