REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

Advancing Outcomes of Care in Athletic Training

The NATA Research and Education Foundation announces resources now available to fund research grant proposals designed to address the issue of clinical outcomes research in athletic training. The National Athletic Trainers’ Association, Inc. has dedicated $1,000,000 to fund this initiative for 3 years beginning in 2007. All proposals will be submitted to the NATA Research and Education Foundation.

Background

Evidence-based medicine and practice have garnered considerable attention in the medical field in the past decade. Evidence-based medicine is defined as “the integration of the best research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values to make clinical decisions.” An important component of evidence-based medicine and practice is outcomes research, which seeks to understand the end results of particular health-care practices and interventions. For clinicians and patients, outcomes research provides evidence about benefits, risks, and results of preventative, diagnostic, and treatment interventions so they can make more informed decisions. For health-care managers and purchasers, outcomes research can identify potentially effective strategies they can implement to ameliorate the quality and value of practical strategies to improve care, thereby fostering faster recovery as well as reducing complications and health-care costs. Through assessing interventions with patient-oriented outcome measures, evidence-based outcomes research has become the key to developing better ways to monitor and improve the quality of patient care.

Presently there is a limited body of clinical outcomes research that has been conducted related to care provided by certified athletic trainers and athletic training-specific interventions. There is currently an urgent need for athletic training outcomes research conducted in a systematic and directed manner. The lack of clinical outcomes research hampers efforts to establish an evidence base for the profession and assist athletic trainers in providing the most evidence-based care. In addition, future efforts for reimbursement for athletic training services may be difficult or impossible to achieve and the profession’s reputation as a leader in the health-care field may be jeopardized without clinical outcomes data.

Objectives

The NATA Research and Education Foundation encourages submission of high-quality research proposals focused on systematically examining patient-centered clinical outcomes of care provided by certified athletic trainers. Proposals should focus on the assessment of at least one of the following: a) clinical outcomes of school-based athletic trainers (secondary or collegiate) or athletic trainers practicing in other clinical settings, b) outcomes related to sports injury prevention programs or c) outcomes relevant to the management of sport-related orthopedic injuries or other sport-related conditions. Proposals should focus on outcomes that are clinically-relevant (e.g., return to activity, pain, function, health-related quality of life, etc.) instead of disease or impairment related.

Preference will be given to proposals that examine clinical outcomes in common employment settings for athletic trainers and address problems or conditions commonly treated by certified athletic trainers, to insure the results will have the greatest impact on, and relevance to, the athletic training profession. The ultimate goal of this research initiative is to examine the clinical outcomes, value, and cost effectiveness of care provided by athletic trainers to persons of all ages.

Procedure

Pre-Proposal Submission - The NATA Foundation requires that investigators interested in submitting a grant application to the NATA Foundation first submit a “Pre-proposal”. The purpose of the Pre-proposal is to optimize the time invested by investigators and the NATA Foundation Research Committee in writing and reviewing grant proposals. The Pre-proposal will allow the NATA Foundation Research Committee to evaluate whether or not the proposed research project is consistent with the goals of this initiative and of sufficient interest to the NATA Foundation Research Committee. The Committee will evaluate the pre-proposal for subject matter (topic and hypotheses) and for research design/methodology. Based upon this evaluation, the committee will either invite the submission of a full proposal or indicate that the proposed project is not of interest to the NATA Foundation. An invitation to submit a full proposal does not imply a commitment to funding. It does indicate that the topic is of potential interest and that the general research design appeared reasonable. A pre-proposal may be submitted at any time. Pre-proposals must be submitted online. For instructions, go to the ‘Research Programs’ tab on the NATA Foundation website.

Full Proposal Submission – Following approval of the pre-proposal submission, a full proposal may be submitted. Submission deadlines for full proposals are February 15 and August 15, 2008. Any commitment to funding may occur only after a detailed review of the full proposal by the NATA Foundation Research Committee, and formal approval by the NATA Foundation Board of Directors. For instructions and guidelines regarding submission of the full proposal, go to the ‘Research Programs’ tab on the NATA Foundation website.