Launched in 2007, the Program of Research on Outcomes for Kids (PROKids) is a health services research team whose major goal is to improve the children’s outcomes by implementing family-centered interventions and evaluating these interventions from the perspectives of children and families. Under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Cox, PROKids not only conducts original research (over $4.6 million in federal and non-federal research funding since 2009) but also serves as a key collaborator or consultant for other investigators at UW and beyond.
The PROKids team has considerable expertise in leveraging stakeholder perspectives to optimize the implementation and evaluation of innovative changes in systems that serve children and families. In collaboration with other resources, PROKids has developed materials and processes to successfully recruit, screen, and onboard representatives from hard-to-reach populations as research advisors. Essential to this process has been the framing of research activities in ways that meet the needs of both researchers and stakeholders from outside the research community.
PROKids is able to translate the often-stated need for stakeholder engagement into meaningful and effective processes that support success across all phases of research, from the preparation, on through execution, and ultimately to dissemination. Their stakeholder engagement plans have contributed to the group’s own successful intra- and extramural PCOR grant applications. As an affiliate of the UW Institute for Clinical and Translational Research Community-Academic Partnerships (ICTR-CAP) program, PROKids team successfully collaborated on PCOR with numerous researchers, clinicians, and community organizations.
PROKids also has expertise in implementing and disseminating research into pediatric clinical settings and other complex systems. For example, through analyses of staff interview data, Dr. Cox and PROKids have helped clinics to identify barriers to participation in research and then developed and implemented recommendations to address those barriers. In addition, as a result of strong stakeholder engagement, PROKids has achieved high levels of recruitment and retention among populations of research participants that are considered hard to reach, such as children with chronic illnesses and their parents, those living in rural areas, and people from challenging socioeconomic situations. Lastly, by developing and publishing toolkits from their research, the PROKids team facilitates the dissemination essential knowledge and skills to both researchers and clinicians.
Contact the Program of Research on Outcomes for Kids (PROKids) at prokids@pediatrics.wisc.edu
Lab News
Dr. Elizabeth Cox Published in Quality of Life Research
Elizabeth Cox’s recent publication in Quality of Life Research advances the utility of novel PROMIS measures of family relationships among chronically ill children. In the study done in collaboration with investigators at UW and Children’s …
October 11, 2019Dr. Elizabeth Cox Publishes Results of Family-Centered Approach to Improving Type 1 Diabetes Outcomes
Elizabeth Cox’s recent publication in Pediatric Diabetes highlights how a family-centered approach to diabetes self-management challenges can improve outcomes. In the study done in collaboration with diabetes teams at UW and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, …
August 30, 2019Elizabeth Cox, MD, PhD Joins ADA’s Research Grant Review Committee
Elizabeth Cox, MD PhD, Director of the Program of Research on Outcomes for Kids (PROKids) and Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, has been selected to join the American Diabetes Association’s Research Grant Review Committee, …
July 29, 2019Dr. Elizabeth Cox Receives Eugene Washington PCORI Award
Elizabeth Cox, in partnership with Laurie Thompsen MSW, Health and Behavioral Health Coordinator at the West Virginia Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and Danielle Davidov, Assistant Professor in the West Virginia University School of Public Health, …
March 3, 2019Elizabeth Cox Serves as Advisor on New PCORI Award
Elizabeth Cox MD PhD is collaborating with Dr. Karla Ausderau, an Assistant Professor in Kinesiology in the UW School of Education, to develop processes and tools that engage people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in …
January 1, 2019- More News...
ecox@pediatrics.wisc.edu
Related Links
Stakeholder Engagement in Research