The Alabama Practice Based Research Network (APBRN), in cooperation with the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), seeks Category I (infrastructure) and Category II (research) support to enhance its capacity to conduct research and to translate research findings into practice using personal digital assistants (PDAs). The Category I phase will: recruit new physician members into APBRN, particularly minorities; assess members' technical capacity and needs, and practice populations demographics; provide assistance and training in PDA use in clinical practice to all members; and assist all members and their clinical staff in achieving IRB training. Category II funding will develop two TRIP studies which will test the feasibility of using PDAs for data collection and generate preliminary data for future study. These studies will employ best practice guidelines for assessment and counseling, and will address similar questions: What level of time and resources are required to conduct clinical data collection using PDAs? What are the barriers and how can they be overcome? Does this type of technical assistance create a teachable moment for the patient that could enhance patient compliance with physician recommendations? Specific aims are to: 1) assess the technological and training needs of APBRN physicians, and provide them with training in the use of PDAs in clinical data collection; 2) ensure that all members are trained and prepared in the basic precepts of research methods and evaluation; 3) conduct a TRIP study on how a PDA-managed protocol for tobacco use will affect the assessment and counseling behaviors of family physicians with patients who smoke; and 4) conduct a pilot feasibility study on obesity, using PDAs to gather data that will serve as the basis for a larger study aimed at improving patient care and reducing morbidity and mortality related to obesity. The overarching question of this research is: Will use of PDAs aid physicians' in delivering health messages, and result in improved patient health?
