Making communication needs and accommodations visible in primary care
Official title: Implementation of Communication Disability Collection and Accommodations in Primary Care Settings
Funded at New York University School of Medicine · NIH-11117133 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project will help primary care clinics record adults' communication disabilities and arrange accommodations so patients can communicate better during visits.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | New York University School of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | September 16, 2022 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $624,483 |
| NIH project number | 5R01DC020188-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11117133 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with communication disabilities (for example, difficulty speaking, hearing, understanding, reading, or writing) who receive care at participating primary care clinics are ideal candidates for this effort.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not get care at participating clinics or whose health needs are unrelated to communication accommodations may not see direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
If you have trouble speaking, understanding, hearing, reading, or expressing yourself, this work aims to make those needs easier to share and document with your primary care team. The team will adapt a package of tools and training for clinics, add prompts in electronic health records, and create workflows to request and deliver communication accommodations. They will roll the package out in primary care clinics and track whether staff document communication needs and provide accommodations more consistently. The study focuses on adult primary care patients and measures changes in documentation, clinic processes, and patient experience.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, adults with communication disabilities may have their needs recorded reliably and receive required accommodations more often during primary care visits.
How similar studies have gone: Previous efforts to add disability or social needs fields to electronic health records have improved documentation in some settings, but tailored implementation for communication disabilities is less commonly tested.
Where this research is happening
-
New York University School of Medicine
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Morris, Megan a — New York University School of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Morris, Megan a
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.