The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is seeking researchers for a new Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)—a Randomized Control Trial (RCT), which will evaluate the impact of, and strategies to best implement acupuncture treatment of older adults (65 years and older) with chronic low back pain (CLBP).1
This announcement comes just months after new director Helene M. Langevin, a supporter of acupuncture, took the reins at NCCIH. This RCT is part of the "Helping to End Addiction Long-term" (HEAL) program, an initiative to speed scientific solutions to the national opioid public health crisis, which reportedly causes 46 deaths a day.2
The FOA requests "investigators with expertise and insights into this area of evidence-based pain management to begin to consider applying. In addition, collaborative investigations combining expertise in acupuncture, pain management, and pragmatic clinical trials will be encouraged, and these investigators should also begin considering applying for this application."
It's important to note that this study will aid in future Medicare coverage: "By addressing gaps in the literature on the benefits and harms of acupuncture in individuals 65=/+, it is anticipated that evidence on improvements in health outcomes derived from this initiative would assist Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in determining Medicare coverage for acupuncture in CLBP."
For more information about this study, or to apply as a researcher please visit grants.nih.gov.
References
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In the past five years of my clinical practice, I have seen an astonishing upsurge in the chronic use of proton-pump inhibitor (PPI) medications for the gastrointestinal issue diagnosed by allopathic medicine as GERD. It is not uncommon to encounter patients taking these prescriptions for five-plus years.
Working with chronically ill patients entails acknowledging the reality that not all patients will survive their diagnosis. Chinese medicine and acupuncture play a crucial role in palliative and end-of-life care, addressing medication and disease side effects, alleviating pain associated with death, reducing anxiety and stress, and helping patients find peace during the dying process.
