Principal Investigator: Tiffany Taft, PsyD Living with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is both physically and psychologically challenging and has the potential to negatively impact patient lives. As many as one-third of individuals with IBD demonstrate significant post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms, according to the first study of IBD-related PTS in the United States conducted by Dr. Taft and her team. Negative hospital experiences may play a substantial role. Further advancing this research, Dr. Taft aims to identify targets for early psychosocial counseling to better intervene and prevent the potential impact of undiagnosed PTS on patient outcomes. The novel study will include the use of online patient surveys to better understand PTS prevalence in IBD and to assess differences in illnesses and demographics traits between IBD patients with and without PTS. The next step will involve in-depth interview s with patients recruited from Northwestern’s and Rush University’s gastroenterology clinics. A clinical psychologist who specializes in working with adult IBD patients will conduct these interviews to gather information not easily collected via standardized tests to better evaluate PTS causes and guide...
Principal Investigator: Sarah Quinton, MD Behavioral and psychological interventions for digestive health conditions are highly effective in reducing symptoms and enhancing patient well-being and adjustment to living with chronic digestive conditions. However, most patients face significant barriers to accessing care from a trained GI health psychologist despite high levels of interest. In recent years, health coaching has been integrated into standard models of behavioral health care, and the benefits of health coaching have been demonstrated with patients with a variety of chronic diseases. In a study conducted by a multidisciplinary team, Kathryn Tomasino, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, and Sarah Kinsinger, PhD, Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, will evaluate the usefulness of integrating health coaching into standard behavioral interventions for digestive conditions provided by GI health psychologists. The team will recruit participants to the study from patients referred for behavioral medicine services at Northwestern Medicine and will randomize participants into two groups. Half will receive the standard psychological therapy sessions (care as usual) and the other half will receive a reduced number of sessions with a GI psychologist plus support from a trained health coach. The coach connect with patients in between sessions via bi-weekly phone calls or MyChart messages to reinforce behavior change, enhance motivation and skills practice, and problem solve challenges—all with the goal of supporting patients along their journey to better health. The team hopes to determine the benefits and feasibility of this integrated model compared to standard...
