Proposed model for translational research at a teaching-intensive college of pharmacy.

BACKGROUND: Many American colleges of pharmacy are small, private, teaching institutions. Faculty are required to maintain a research agenda, although the publication quota is less compared with their publicly funded college of pharmacy peers. Faculty at these smaller schools conduct research with very little internal or external funding. This tends to lead to smaller, less impactful research findings. Translational research is becoming popular for research faculty as it bridges theory to practice. The Knowledge-to-Action (KTA) framework presents the steps to conduct translational research. PURPOSE: To apply and determine if the KTA framework would be able to produce practice-impactful research at an institution that does not depend on grant funding as part of faculty research agendas. PROCEDURES: An interdisciplinary team was formed with providers at the clinical faculty's practice site. As the team moved through the KTA steps, authors documented the roles of each team member. It was clear that many different types of teams were formed throughout the KTA process. These teams were then categorized according to the Interdisciplinary Teamwork System. The final result is a proposed model of types of teams and required member roles that are necessary within each KTA step for faculty to conduct practice-impactful research at a small, private, teaching institution without substantial grant funding awards. MAIN FINDINGS: Applying the KTA framework, two impactful original research manuscripts were developed over two academic years. Furthermore, the practitioners at the clinical faculty member's site were very pleased with the ease of conducting research, as they were never required to take a lead role. In addition, both faculty members alternated lead and support role allowing for a decreased burden of workload while producing theory-driven research. CONCLUSION: The KTA framework can create a model for translational research and may be particularly beneficial to small teaching institutions to conduct impactful research.

Characteristics of Older Adults Who Consume Alcohol While on Antidepressants.

OBJECTIVES: Determine the characteristics of older Americans who self-report consuming alcohol and taking at least one antidepressant. DESIGN: This study utilized cross-sectional analyses. SETTING: The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study and its subsurvey Prescription Drug Study (PDS). PATIENTS, PARTICIPANTS: Those who reported taking at least one antidepressant prescription medication, were 65 years of age or older, and were enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid between 2002 and 2004. INTERVENTIONS: Chi-square tests were conducted between demographic groups and alcohol consumption variables. Relationships between antidepressant quantity and behaviors of those consuming alcohol while taking antidepressants were also addressed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Demographics, alcohol consumption, number of antidepressants, psychiatric problem status, and alcohol behaviors. RESULTS: There were 412 subjects from the 2007 PDS (N = 3,536) who self-reported taking at least one antidepressant prescription medication. A total of 102 (24.8%) of the 412 subjects taking antidepressants reported using alcohol. Ethnicity, education level attained, and geographic region all showed a statistical difference between alcohol drinkers and nondrinkers. Most subjects were only on one antidepressant medication. Also, none of the subjects felt they needed to cut down on their drinking though they also did not feel annoyed by criticism from others about their drinking habits. CONCLUSION: This study showed that 24.8% of older Americans in the community were consuming some amount of alcohol while on antidepressants. These results show that there is an opportunity for consultant pharmacists to educate older American adults about the safety concerns with alcohol consumption and antidepressant use.