Opportunities to optimize the receipt of preventive services among children with sickle cell anemia: A Mixed Methods Approach

Project start date and end date: September 2021 - August 2025

Background:
National guidelines strongly recommend that children with sickle cell anemia receive routine screenings and be offered preventive medications to reduce the risk of serious complications including infections, strokes, and pain crises. Although these complications are associated with increased health services utilization and cost, and reduced quality of life, only 40% of children receive routine screenings and less than 20% receive preventive medications. Significantly, the mechanisms driving quality gaps in the receipt of preventive services are unknown, limiting our ability to develop and implement impactful interventions.

Objectives:
The overall objective of this study is to shed light on these mechanisms and identify opportunities to optimize receipt of preventive services among children with sickle cell anemia, thus reducing disease burden and improving quality of life.

Using a mixed methods approach, we will:
(1) identify critical targets within the healthcare delivery system, as well as key subgroups of the population, through which intervention can improve the receipt of preventive services for children with sickle cell anemia;
(2) identify barriers to and facilitators of receipt of preventive services, and
(3) integrate the quantitative findings of patterns of care and adherence deficiencies with the qualitative findings of barriers and facilitators to preventive services to identify intervention targets and strategies that are most likely to improve receipt of preventive services.

Implications:
This project will provide critical information to inform the development and implementation of interventions to improve the receipt of preventive services among children with sickle cell anemia.

Funder:
This project is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
 

For more information, please contact:
Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics
Associate Director for Education, CHEAR
Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology
Director, CHEAR Fellowship Programs
NCRC Building 16, G027W
2800 Plymouth Road
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2800
Phone
734-615-8319
Email
sleasure@umich.edu