More than just a database
It has been 8 months of direct work on co-creating a database to hear that rewarding question from a clinician. That simple, unguarded response showed us that not only was the database we created seen as valuable by the stroke programs we made it with and for, but other programs in neurorehabilitation see the value of it too. There is an excitement about the opportunities that this database creates.
Clinician | In Database Design Meeting
”I am so jealous of you guys in stroke now that I’ve seen this database. Can we get this in the traumatic brain injury programs?
The work of co-creating the first database within the BRILLIANT umbrella with researchers, information technologists, managers, and clinicians has been taking place within the Mayo-Portland Adaptability Inventory (MPAI) implementation project. The MPAI is a measure that assesses the deficits, activities, and participation of individuals with acquired brain injury. It can be used to describe, evaluate and predict client outcomes, and evaluate and improve the rehabilitation programs themselves. The database will allow for the streamlined use of the MPAI in clinical care and program evaluation.
Just because the database is now ready for use by the clinical teams, does not mean that our work is done. The database will be continuously improved over time by research conducted on the MPAI data housed within the database, and by continuing to talk to project partners about their evolving needs. For example, the team expects that we will update the database to enhance how the MPAI is interpreted using results from research on the psychometric properties of the MPAI. In terms of evolving needs, we have already received questions about how MPAI data might be used during the stroke program accreditation process, and expect to further develop the database to support that process in the near future.
The MPAI database is just the first among many databases that will be created within the BRILLIANT umbrella. The BRILLIANT research project is multifaceted, with many ongoing and planned studies – many of which will include database design. The end goal of BRILLIANT is to create an integrated database infrastructure in which all the measures being used by clinicians and clients will be accessed via the same portal. Clinicians, managers and researchers will have an easily accessible, holistic view of each client via a clinical/research portal. The client themselves will be able to access their own records via a patient portal. Project by project, we are working towards this goal of an integrated database infrastructure – the MPAI database is just the beginning.
