Researchers at the Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston have been awarded a federal grant to advance chronic pain management in rural communities through auricular point acupressure. The grant, totaling $817,483 for the first year, was awarded to Jennifer Kawi, PhD, MSN, by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke as part of the National Institutes of Health’s Helping to End Addiction Long-term® Initiative.
Auricular point acupressure involves stimulating pressure points on the ear using acupuncture points. "Auricular point acupressure is typically performed by a practitioner. My key contributions to the field have been to develop a theory-based, self-managed intervention," said Kawi. She emphasized that pain management should be accessible and affordable.
Kawi's team has redeveloped a smartphone app for self-administered auricular point acupressure. The app includes English and Spanish versions, 3D images, captions, motivational messaging, a self-monitoring progress chart based on ecological momentary assessments, and performance checks.
"The rural pain care population suffers from disparities and often must travel long distances for appointments," Kawi noted. "Sometimes medication has been the easy way to go because patients don’t have the opportunity to try other pain management options."
The grant will fund large-scale testing of this intervention in rural areas of Texas and South Carolina. In its first year, the research will focus on community-engaged research and pilot testing of the app. The project aims to engage health care providers, rural health systems, clinic staff, policymakers, and community health workers.
Over subsequent years, more than 600 participants will be recruited for a pragmatic randomized controlled trial comparing different groups' use of auricular point acupressure with or without additional in-person training. Researchers will measure effects on pain intensity, daily activity interference, physical function, analgesic use including opioids' implementation outcomes cost-effectiveness predictive factors.
Jane Bolin from Texas A&M University and Hulin Wu from UTHealth Houston are serving as multiple principal investigators alongside Kawi. Subawards will go to researchers at the University of South Carolina (USC) and Johns Hopkins University.
The award also allows Kawi to continue building on foundational work by Chao Hsing Yeh who was instrumental in advancing auricular point acupressure science before her passing in April 2023.
"Yeh was foundational in moving the science forward on auricular point acupressure," said Kawi. "We still have a lot of work to do."
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