Research Project, 2019-2024 “Goal-Oriented Activity for Latinos with Spine Pain (GOALS/Metas)”

Research Areas

  • Cultural and linguistic adaptation of rehabilitation and health system interventions.
  • Testing of interventions for conservative management of chronic spine pain.
  • Telerehabilitation.

Scientific Achievements

  • Culturally adapted a cognitive behavioral-based telerehabilitation intervention for Latino persons with chronic spine pain, to improve function and management of chronic pain.
  • Collaboration with a Federally Qualified Health Center in San Diego.
  • Gombatto SP, Archer KR, Wegener ST, Hernandez Y, Lin SF, Godino J, Van Dyke J, Liu J, Monroe KS. Protocol for a Parallel Group Randomized Clinical Trial Comparing a Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Telerehabilitation Intervention to Usual Physical Therapy for Latino Patients With Chronic Spine Pain. Phys Ther. 2023 Sep 1;103(9):pzad068. doi: 10.1093/ptj/pzad068. PMID: 37364033; PMCID: PMC10492001.

Funding

RCMI Funding:

  • U54MD012397, S21MD010690, NIH/NIMHD: Research Project: “Goal-Oriented Activity for Latinos with Spine Pain (GOALS/Metas)”

Other funding obtained with RCMI support:

  • 1F31MD018535; NIH/NIMHD, Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship to Promote Diversity in Health-Related Research “Evaluating Multilevel Factors that Predict Physical Activity Among Latinos with Chronic Spine Pain: A Mixed-Methods Study”; PI: Patricia Dionicio, PhD Student.

Scientific Advance

Use of Intervention Mapping to Adapt a Psychologically Informed Physical Therapy Telerehabilitation Intervention for Latino Persons with Chronic Spine Pain
Published in The Journal of Pain, Volume 26, 2024, PMCID: PMC11867025.
The study uses existing frameworks (IM-Adapt and FRAME) to develop and report on how an intervention was adapted for Latino persons seeking care for chronic spine pain at Federally Qualified Health Centers in the southwestern United States. Investigators describe, step-by-step, how they used a logic model as guide, an existing physical therapy intervention, other existing research evidence, and pilot testing with real patients, to systematically adapt the intervention for communities of a different culture and who speak a different language. This paper describes a structured approach for communicating these adaptations in a way that could be replicated for other types of treatments and for other communities in need.
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