VCU researchers awarded national grant to test Web site Lifestyle Choices

By Michael Ford
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has awarded a $125,000 grant to a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher to study the effectiveness and feasibility of using a unique "healthy behaviors" web site to help patients make healthy lifestyle choices. 

The grant for the 16-month study is made under the Foundation program called Prescription for Health: Promoting Healthy Behaviors in Primary Care Research Networks. Principal investigator Steven H. Woolf, M.D., M.P.H., will gather data from six Northern Virginia-based family practices that participate in the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network (ACORN), administered by the Department of Family Practice in the VCU School of Medicine.

"The project will focus on several behaviors including tobacco use, problem drinking, unhealthy diet, and physical inactivity," said Woolf, professor and director of research, VCU Department of Family Practice and a member of the national Institute of Medicine. "We will develop a web site that will give patients access to a diverse mix of resources on health behaviors, practical tools to facilitate change and details about relevant services in the communities in which they live. Participating clinicians will prescribe use of the web site to patients as part of usual patient care."

Using data from 18 participating Virginia practices, VCU-based ACORN tracks important trends and patterns in the health status of primary care patients and performs studies to determine whether interventions by patients, providers, or health systems are effective in improving the quality of outcomes of care. 

According to the Prescription for Health program, Americans, on average, visit doctors� offices about three times a year. Most of these visits are to primary care offices and patients value the advice of their providers and are motivated to act on the advice they receive from them. 

VCU is one of 17 programs to receive Foundation funding, out of 75 applications submitted by practice based research networks.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, based in Princeton, N.J., is the nation�s largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care. It concentrates its grant making in four global areas: to assure that all Americans have access to quality health care at reasonable cost; to improve the quality of care and support for people with chronic health conditions; to promote healthy communities and lifestyles; and to reduce the personal, social and economic harm caused by substance abuse � tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.

To find out more about the Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network go to http://www.acorn.fap.vcu.edu or http://www.prescriptionforhealth.org to learn more about the Robert Wood Johnson Prescription for Health.