AN11--Intent to Sole Source Services - Specialized Ethnographic Research Support VA Puget Sound, WA

The Veteran s Administration (VA) Office of Research and Development, Regional Procurement Office East in Pittsburgh, PA intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Janelle Sue Taylor, PhD based in Toronto, Ontario on behalf of the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System. The requirement is to provide research assistance for planned VA medical studies. The planned studies focus on Ethnographic Methodological Expertise for research study titled CONSERVE-CKM: Study on Care of Patients with Advanced Kidney Disease. The planned studies follow preliminary studies based on the same subject.

This service contract covers services including providing content and methodological expertise in ethnographic research methods, health systems implementation, and advanced kidney disease. The contractor shall provide research support, guidance, and training across the life of the study and will work under the supervision of the VA Principal Investigator (PI) to serve as an ethnographic, methodological, and content expert in ethnography and health system processes for kidney disease.

Vendor will collaborate with the PI and meet with the research team and collaborators monthly to complete the tasks below.

Tasks and Deliverables

Task 1 Guidance and Training for Qualitative Interviews

Provide input and ethnographic content expertise on training of interviewers and development of interview guides for qualitative interviews with Veterans, caregivers and clinicians that elicit care processes and factors that promote or hinder effective delivery of healthcare and outcomes for patients with advanced kidney disease who are unsure or do not wish to forgo dialysis. As interviews will be conducted longitudinally, approach should elicit changes in experiences and processes over time. The Vendor will also provide guidance on sampling strategy to allow for depth and nuance in elucidation of emergent themes related to the care of these Veterans.

Task 2 Guidance and Training for Clinical Field Observations

Provide input and ethnographic content expertise on training of project staff in field observations and approaches to field observations of care interactions between Veterans, caregivers, and clinicians. As field observations will be conducted in a variety of settings (i.e. home, emergency departments, hospital) and modalities (i.e., in-person, phone, video) in which care occurs, approaches will need to be adapted to each setting and modality.

Task 3 Guidance and Training for Field Observations of Lived Experiences with Kidney Disease

Provide input and content expertise on training project staff in field observations of lived experiences of patients with kidney disease. As lived experiences of kidney disease is highly varied and will include a diversity of times, settings and activities, approaches will need to be facile and dynamic for each patient.

Task 4 - Guidance and Training in Artifact Collection and Review

Provide guidance on strategy for artifact collection and review of artifacts shared by patients that reflect their experience of kidney disease and care. A range of artifacts may be provided by patients (e.g. photos, writing, objects) and strategies for interviewing patients about what these artifacts represent will need to be broad and comprehensive.

Task 5 Guidance for Data Management and Analytical Plan

Provide guidance on development of data management and analysis plans. The Vendor will guide the project team on organizing and preparing collected data for analysis. The Vendor will train staff to manage and analyze primary data collected, and review aggregated deidentified data to assist with evaluation of current care approaches. The analytical plan should include coding strategies and approaches to thematic synthesis that will result in trustworthy, rigorous, and credible conclusions and recommendations for care related to Veterans who are unsure or wish to forgo dialysis.

Task 6 Guidance on presentation of findings

Vendor will guide the project team to prepare presentations and final reports for the project sponsor. Vendor can co-author manuscripts for peer-reviewed publications and will be notated with their non-VA affiliation.

Deliverables

Deliverable

Description

Delivery Date

1

Provide content expertise on training of interviewers and development of interview guides for qualitative interviews

Monthly

2

Provide content expertise on training of project staff in clinical field observations and observations of lived experiences.

Monthly

3

Provide content expertise and training of project staff in artifact collection and review.

Monthly

4

Provide guidance on development of data management and analysis plans and guide the team on analysis of care approaches.

Monthly

5

Guidance on presentation of findings. Manuscript preparation.

As needed

The requirement will take place at a VA facility in Puget Sound, WA. The sole source is pursuant to RFO 6.103-1 Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. This notice of intent is not a request for competitive proposals, however; any responsible source who believes it is capable of meeting the requirement may submit a capability statement and supporting documentation to the contracting office no later than Tuesday, April 21, 2026, (10:00 AM, EST). Interest/capability statements may be sent to Michael Haydo at Michael.haydo@va.gov. No telephone responses will be accepted. A determination not to compete the proposed requirement based upon the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.