Monthly Archives: February 2019

IBD and reproductive health counseling (IBD-RHC) is associated with higher knowledge, lower voluntary childlessness and greater medication adherence during pregnancy. Yet prior studies show documentation of IBD-RHC is low in both women and men, and few… Continue reading →

Navigating the risk-benefit profiles of the various biologic options approved for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be challenging for patients who are considering biologic therapies as a treatment option. We created an online patient decision aid called IBD&me (ibdandme.org) to clarify individual patient preferences about biologic therapies and encourage more active involvement in decision making. It includes an educational component and an interactive exercise with a series of ratings tasks that generates a personalized preferences report for patients to share and discuss with their physician. Continue reading →

Effective tools are needed to support IBD patients and providers in shared decision-making (SDM) and navigating access to appropriate therapies. We developed and evaluated patient and provider educational online apps that present aligned content design… Continue reading →

Vitamin D (25OH) deficiency is highly prevalent in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Observational studies have associated this with increased disease activity, but small vitamin D supplementation studies have not improved clinical outcom… Continue reading →

Patients are increasingly using social media platforms to inform themselves about their medical diagnoses and explore potential treatment options. The medical industry has begun to utilize social media to communicate directly with potential customers. … Continue reading →

The IBD Qorus initiative is a learning health system built on a collaboration between patients and providers that aims to improve the healthcare value for IBD patients. A key feature of learning health systems is the use of data within a collaborative … Continue reading →

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) require more frequent and varied screening tests in order to reduce patient morbidity and mortality. Beyond colonoscopies, routine skin, ophthalmologic, vitamin D, and DXA evaluations are recommended to re… Continue reading →

Psychological health plays a critical role in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), contributing to both expression and maintenance of IBD symptoms. Research evaluating the effects of mental health difficulties on IBD in a Veteran population is limited. As… Continue reading →

Little is known about health system barriers from the patient and family perspectives in children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), or potential targets for solutions. In our previous work, families primarily identified psychosocial barriers to ca… Continue reading →

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) is becoming a global health issue as incidence rates are rising throughout the world. The two most common inflammatory bowel diseases are Crohn’s Disease (CD) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC). The main goal of medical trea… Continue reading →