Implementing a Decision Support Tool to Prevent Community-Acquired Pressure Injury in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) in the Spinal Cord Injury Clinic

Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a permanent condition affecting every aspect of life including health, daily activities, and participation and quality of life. Persons with SCI are at high risk of pressure injury (PrI) throughout their lives due to loss of sensation, nerve damage and immobility. PrIs are local areas of damage to the skin and underlying soft tissue caused by pressure and shear commonly located over bony prominences. While most PrIs are hospital- or nursing home-acquired, in people with SCI, PrIs typically develop in the community. Community-acquired pressure injuries (CAPrIs) are common, devastating, and costly. This grant proposal will assess how well a decision support tool, called the Community Acquired Pressure Injury Prevention Field Implementation Tool (CAPP-FIT), is used in the clinic and how well it prevents CAPrIs. The CAPP-FIT will be implemented at seven sites across the country in a staggered fashion. The CAPP-FIT includes: 1) an automated Veteran survey to identify risks, actions, and resources needed to prevent CAPrIs and 2) a companion Provider Report immediately available in the electronic health record listing Veteran responses to survey items with recommended evidence-based provider actions. The Veteran survey can be completed via a secured email on the computer or phone. There are three aims in the proposal: Aim 1 is implementing the CAPP-FIT at the seven geographically diverse VA SCI clinics. After CAPP-FIT implementation, each site will determine how the CAPP-FIT will be maintained in clinical practice to support sustainability. Aim 2 assesses how well the CAPP-FIT prevents CAPrIs and CAPrI-associated hospitalizations and assesses provider and Veteran satisfaction. Aim 3 assesses how well the CAPP-FIT is implemented in the SCI clinic.