The National Institute on Aging awarded the University of Washington $108,476 under NIH Project Grant F32AG101798 on February 12, 2027, to support research examining the relationship between electronic health record-documented goals-of-care discussions and patient and surrogate outcomes in hospitalized older adults.
The research investigates how inpatient goals-of-care discussions documented in electronic health records relate to three patient- and surrogate-reported outcomes: quality of communication, shared decision-making, and goal-concordant care. The study leverages data from a randomized trial of 617 older hospitalized patients with chronic, life-limiting illness, including 77 patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. The project employs a mixed-methods design combining quantitative analysis of the association between documented goals-of-care discussions and patient outcomes with exploratory qualitative work to identify key domains of effective discussions and characterize patterns across patient populations with and without dementia.
The award falls under the Aging Research program (CFDA 93.866), which supports biomedical, social, and behavioral research directed toward understanding aging processes and diseases affecting older populations, with emphasis on Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.
The University of Washington Office of Sponsored Programs serves as the recipient. Performance occurs in Seattle, Washington, with an ultimate completion date of February 11, 2028.