{"id":3746,"date":"2023-05-11T13:46:17","date_gmt":"2023-05-11T17:46:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/crmh\/?p=3746"},"modified":"2023-05-11T13:46:17","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T17:46:17","slug":"blaise-morrison-receives-pcori-award-for-project-benefit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/healthsciences\/crmh\/2023\/05\/blaise-morrison-receives-pcori-award-for-project-benefit\/","title":{"rendered":"Blaise Morrison Receives PCORI Award for Project BENEFIT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blaise Morrison, PhD, HSP-P, CRC, LPC<\/a>, is an Assistant Professor within the Division of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling, a part of ºÚÁÏÍø\u2019s Department of Health Sciences. His research primarily focuses on the intersection of family and disability, particularly in understanding the impact of disability on families and the impact of family on the lived experiences of people with disabilities. Morrison is interested in studying the role that the family system plays in health and rehabilitation outcomes and, subsequently, developing family-directed interventions to improve those outcomes.<\/p>\n

What began as working with those who had experienced brain injury, stroke and\/or spinal cord injury evolved into also supporting families who have been affected by intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Some commonly known forms of IDD include autism, cerebral palsy, ADHD, pediatric brain injury and down syndrome.<\/p>\n

Morrison was recently awarded $250,000 over two years from the Eugene Washington Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institution (PCORI) for Project BENEFIT: Building Effective Networks to Engage Families in Improving Transitions<\/em>. Dr. Diana Cejas, MD, MPH, a faculty member in the Department of Neurology and at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (CIDD), serves as the project\u2019s co-lead.<\/p>\n

PCORI supports projects that encourage involvement of patients, caregivers, clinicians and other healthcare workers in patient-centered outcome research. The purpose of Project BENEFIT is to partner with and engage IDD stakeholders in patient-centered outcome research in the area of healthcare transition. Healthcare transition is defined, in this instance, as the transition from pediatric healthcare services to adult healthcare services.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, there is a large gap in healthcare transition because of the limited number of medical providers trained to work with the IDD population,\u201d said Morrison. \u201cMany people with IDD could be in their 20s and still be working with a pediatric provider, but existing research shows that inadequate healthcare transition to adult providers can lead to poor health outcomes that affect community life, particular in IDD patients that are considered racially\/ethnically marginalized.\u201d<\/p>\n

Goals and Outcomes of Project BENEFIT<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Project BENEFIT involves partnerships with IDD advocacy organizations, including ºÚÁÏÍø\u2019s Center for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (CIDD), Family Support Network of North Carolina (FSNNC), Virginia Commonwealth University\u2019s Partnership for People with Disabilities, and Parent2Parent USA. Each of the partner organizations will play a unique role in supporting people with IDD and their families, with the primary goal of developing trusting, long-lasting research partnerships. Additionally, a stakeholder advisory group comprised of various IDD stakeholders with differing backgrounds\u2013 individuals with IDD, physicians, researchers, family members \u2013 will oversee the project\u2019s implementation, provide guidance and recommendations, and will co-create the project deliverables.<\/p>\n

Goals of the project include:<\/p>\n