Justine P. Wu, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, is a first-round recipient of an Interprofessional Exchange (IP-X) pilot grant award, administered by the University of Michigan Health Sciences Council. The $50,000 will support Dr. Wu's continued work in developing tailored, contraceptive care decision aids. Furthermore, the grant will enable her to expand her five-year NIH career development research, which focuses on contraceptive counseling and care for women with medical conditions, to also include a decision aid prototype that addresses the needs of women with breast cancer. The title of the project is "Improving Contraceptive Care for Women with Breast Cancer: An Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Approach."
It has been estimated that cancer survivors have a threefold greater risk of unintended pregnancy than those without cancer. However, family planning efforts for women with breast cancer have primarily focused on fertility preservation, with much less attention devoted to pregnancy prevention and contraception. This new work aims to address the unmet need of premenopausal women with breast cancer. It will develop a prototype web-based decision aid that enables women to make preference-sensitive informed decisions within the context of their cancer status and treatment. The work builds upon and expands Dr. Wu’s recently funded K23 NIH study to develop a contraceptive decision aid for women with medical conditions such as diabetes.
As a first-round recipient of an interprofessional exchange (IP-X) pilot grant, the project is unique in its approach to the research and development process. It aims to formally develop an interprofessional Collaborative Practice Model of care. As primary investigator, Dr. Wu will lead a team of collaborators, representing the complementary disciplines of breast oncology, oncology nursing, oncology social work, and primary care and family planning. The research and implementation team will utilize mixed methods to collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data to inform both the decision aid intervention and the Collaborative Practice Model (see figure on right).
Co-investigators include: Monika Burness, MD, Clinical Lecturer
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan; Debra L. Barton, RN, PHD, AOCN, FAAN, Mary Lou Willard French Professor of Nursing, Department of Systems, Populations and Leadership, University of Michigan School of Nursing; Debra Mattison, MSW, Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, University of Michigan.
Browse the latest department research on reproductive and women's health and primary care of patients with cancer.
Christina Czuhajewski, Department of Family Medicine, [email protected] Subscribe to the Family Medicine e-Newsletter
